The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken
by LittleSinner
Summary: CHAPTER 16 IS UP! NOW COMPLETED! The Okens invite the Stewarts and Truscotts for a summer break at their lake cabin. For some reason, Oliver is acting strangely around his friends, more than usual, that is... Loliver. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Felt like taking a break from my Harry Potter fics and write something different this time. Sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes. Hope you like it and if you do, please leave a review. :)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 1:**

_This is going to be the best summer break ever,_ Oliver thought and smiled to himself dreamily. Here he was with his family, back at the cabin they held at South Lake Tahoe. As his dad parked their car, Oliver stepped outside to help with the luggage. His little brother Owen ran along with his mum to the cabin, since they both couldn't wait any longer to use the bathroom.

_Beep! Beep!_ A car horn echoed and Oliver turned around to see the Stewarts parking behind. They had never been there before and when Oliver suggested to his parents that they should invite them, they actually thought it was a good idea to have a get-together with both families there. Besides, the cabin was so big that it could fit a total of ten people and it would be a waste to be just the four of them when they could host more people in it.

Jackson whined to his dad when he asked him to unload their bags as well. "Why can't Miley do it?" he complained.

"Because I'm asking you, you lazy boy," Robby Ray replied. "You don't see Oliver complaining, do you?" He gestured to Oliver, who hoisted another heavy suitcase off the roof of the Okens' car. Oliver smirked to himself, satisfied that he set an example to someone who was a year older than him. "The least you can do is work up some muscles. You have two days to sit around here and do nothing after that, and then we're off to Europe for the rest of the summer."

"Wow, look at this place!" Oliver heard Miley's voice, which was filled with admiration, as she stepped out of the car and took a look at their surroundings.

He had to admit that this place was pretty amazing. He loved it out here. It was a good change of setting from Malibu. He loved how the air was much cooler here and how it was sunny, but the woods were so thick that the sun only reflected over the water that spread right in front of the cabin, and left the ground shadowy but still warm. He admired how he could hear a woodpecker on a nearby tree or owl hoots at night. And his favorite thing was the spreading of the mountains around the lake, so high and green at this time of year. And the best thing about this place was the fact that it was completely isolated a whole mile away from any civilization.

He and his family used to come here every summer when he was younger, but when his mum got promoted it wasn't as easy to arrange a vacation as it was before. This year however, Nancy thought ahead and asked for a week off work so they could come here once again.

When he finished unloading all of their luggage, his dad and Mr. Stewart took the bags inside. Oliver walked over to the Stewarts' car to help Jackson. He then heard Miley's cell-phone ring. He knew she had placed a different tune to each different person, but when the chorus of her song _True Friend_ blasted from her pocket, this simple fact somehow slipped from his mind. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Miley step aside to answer the call.

"Hey, Lilly. What? Oh, sweet niblets! Wait, I can barely hear you," she said and started to walk around the car in circles. Oliver's full attention snapped to her the moment she said Lilly's name. "Okay, this is the best signal I'm going to get. Where are you?"

"Oliver, grab that quickly, will you?" Jackson said, but Oliver was still fully concentrated on Miley. He was completely engrossed in her phone conversation, that he didn't hear Jackson's words. "Oliver! Watch out!" Jackson called in alarm and before Oliver knew what was happening, Hannah's glittery pink makeup case had crushed on his head and he was knocked down onto the ground.

"Oh, no, I gotta go," Miley hurriedly said to Lilly over the phone. "Talk to you later, bye!"

Oliver felt a sharp pain in his head and he slowly opened his eyes. Everything was spinning so he had to blink a few times until he could focus his vision and saw Jackson and Miley bending over him, looking concerned.

"Oliver, are you alright?" Jackson asked worriedly.

"Oh, he's fine!" Miley waved off. Her face turned an angry shade of crimson as her eyebrows knitted together. "What were you thinking, Oken? You nearly broke my Hannah Box!" she added. "Now it's got blood all over it!"

Oliver blinked once more, slowly registering what Miley had said. "I'm bleeding?" he asked faintly. He now realized why his head hurt so much.

"It's just a cut, man," Jackson said, his face still hovering over Oliver's. "But it suits you. It gives your face a more masculine look."

"Thanks, Jackson, I appreciate the compliment but could you please step back? You're way too close, man," Oliver said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "And try finding a breath mint," he added as he slowly pushed himself off of the ground. He went to examine his face at the right hand wing mirror of the Stewarts' car. He was okay, he decided. No obvious concussion or any serious damage besides a small cut on his forehead. Luckily he had thick bangs to cover it up. He wiped off the rest of the blood with the back of his hand and relaxed when he saw the scratch wasn't deep at all and the bleeding had ceased.

"What do you carry inside that thing? Rocks?" he turned to ask Miley, who looked back at him sheepishly.

She huffed angrily and grabbed her Hannah Box from the ground. "I'll take that," she said and marched over to the cabin. She then stopped and looked back at Oliver. "Hey, your mum mentioned a room with three beds. Where can I find it?"

Oliver chuckled. "Gee, Miley, I know you're Hannah Montana and all, but do you really need _three_ beds just for yourself? Talk about Little Miss Celebrity here..." he muttered to Jackson and they both chuckled.

"It's not just for me, you idiot! I'm sharing it with Lilly and her mum!" she replied.

Oliver froze. _Did she just say...?_

"What do you mean? Lilly is coming? Nobody told me," he said nervously, fidgeting with his hands.

Miley eyed him suspiciously. "Y-_eah_! Of course she's coming. You didn't think we would leave her alone at home, did you?"

"Right. I –I guess, I forgot our mums are best friends..." he mumbled quietly, bowing his head and shuffling his foot on the ground in shame realizing how stupid he just proved tobe. _Awesome, Oken, just awesome! _he sarcastically praised himself.

"Oliver!" Miley called and drew him out of his daze. His head shot up to look at her. "The room?" she asked again, her hands held out in a waiting pose.

"Right. Downstairs on the right. It's the only bedroom on the floor, right next to the bathroom."

"Thanks," she said and turned back to walk inside.

Oliver shook his head at his own stupidity. He walked over to the Stewarts' forgotten luggage, picked up two bags and put one over each of his shoulders. He began to march to the cabin but stopped when he noticed that Jackson was not following him.

"I know I'm not your dad, but I also know you're supposed to get that," he said to Jackson, pointing to the rest of bags left on the ground.

Jackson slowly grabbed the bags and they both began to walk up the stairs to the cabin. Even though he didn't say anything, there was no mistaking that Jackson was eyeing him. Oliver could actually feel his gaze burning a hole into the back of his neck.

Oliver stopped and looked back at his friend. _"What?"_ he asked him, annoyed.

Jackson's lips tightened into a thin line. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, like you said, it's just a small cut," Oliver replied, rolling his eyes.

Jackson's eyes squinted as he studied him closer. "No, that's not what I was referring to..." When he saw the irritated look on Oliver's face, he shook his head. "Never mind. Forget, I said anything."

"Good," Oliver replied, opened the door to the cabin and the two walked inside. _A rough start, _Oliver thought, _but I hope it will get better._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** I'll try to post this regularly once a week or two. Please make sure to leave a review, they keep me motivated and if I won't get any, I probably stop posting. I need to know if you like this story or not. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 2:**

Heather and Lilly Truscott arrived about an hour later. Apparently, Heather got lost on the way and their GPS device didn't work right.

Oliver now felt a bit uneasy with Lilly's presence there. It's not like they were fighting, it wasn't the case at all. She was still his best friend. He just thought he was going to spend this week along with his family and the Stewarts. He wasn't expecting Lilly to be there as well.

It was half past five on the afternoon. The parents were all making dinner (Robby Ray was desperately trying to avoid Heather in conversation. It seems that Miley forgot to update him on the Truscotts arrival as well, and Oliver was starting to think she did that on purpose). So while the adults worked inside, the kids were hanging out outside on the porch. Miley was playing on her guitar and they all joined her in the song.

"Wow, Miley, you sound just like Hannah Montana!" little Owen said, full of admiration. The rest of the kids laughed.

"Yeah, Miley is well known at her ability to mimic celebrities," Jackson said jokingly, only Owen didn't get that.

"Miley, I can't believe my mum actually allowed me to come with you to Europe!" Lilly said as she clapped her hands excitedly. "EEP! I don't know what is wrong with her, and I'm not going to find out."

"Hey, Oliver, why aren't you going to Europe?" asked Owen.

Oliver's face turned red. He ran his hand through his thick hair. "Well, I guess Europe just doesn't do it for me," he said.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Right... You could've said that mum didn't let you, you know." Oliver scowled distastefully while the girls smiled at the little boy; of course they found him adorable.

"Yeah, besides, it's more like a girls-only trip," Miley added to the nine year-old.

Owen looked confused. "Then why is Jackson going?"

"Like I said, it's more like a girls-only trip," Miley said again and everyone laughed, except Jackson who pouted and called "Hey!" in protest.

Soon after that, Owen got bored and left to watch TV, so the four of them stayed outside. There was a warm breeze and the sun was slowly setting, covering the porch in its golden glow. Mr. Stewart came outside a few minutes later, carrying a tray with four mugs of his famous Loco Hot Cocoa. Even though Oliver couldn't complain about that, he knew that Robby only went outside as an excuse to avoid Lilly's mum, even if it was just for a minute.

"I'm bored," Oliver said after they were all done and sugar-high from their drinks. He felt a little too hyper-active and made a mental note to check his sugar level afterwards because right now all he wanted to do was to pump up some adrenaline.

He jumped up from his seat and took a deep breath before his hands grabbed the ham of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Miley asked incredulously, taken aback by his sudden behavior. She watched him throw his shirt aside, but tried not to stare directly at his bare torso.

He flashed her a wide smile in return as he kicked his sandals at Miley and Lilly's direction, making both girls look at him questioningly while they ducked his flying shoes. "I'm going for a swim," he simply said and ran down the stairs to the grassy ground.

"You're crazy!" Miley exclaimed. She stood up, ran to the railings and watched him take off his capri shorts next, leaving him in only his boxers.

"Why? My brother and I used to do it all the time," he explained. He was facing her, but slowly walked backwards towards the shore of the lake. "Come on, it'd be fun!"

"No, it'd be cold!" Miley objected.

"And dark soon!" Lilly added as she came to stand beside Miley.

Oliver leered at Lilly. "Aww! Are you afraid, Truscott?" he sneered in a faked baby voice.

Lilly's face immediately turned red and her eyes narrowed. The best thing about knowing Lilly since the age of three was that he knew which of her buttons he had to push to make her mad, and the easiest way was to call her a chicken. He watched her carefully, seeing her slightly shake with anger, and he could swear he saw smoke coming out of her ears.

"I'm in," Jackson then said excitedly, took off his shirt and shoes as well and went to join Oliver.

"Wha – _Jackson!_" Miley called in protest after her brother, but Jackson only stuck out his tongue childishly in return.

Oliver and Jackson met with a high-five and both turned around laughing, running to the nearby dock and jumping into the water.

Miley's mouth hung open in shock. "Can you believe them?" she turned to her right, where Lilly was standing, but found her blonde friend wasn't there anymore. She turned around on the porch and saw that Lilly had entered the cabin. She followed her into their shared room, and watched as Lilly grabbed her bathing suit and ran to the bathroom with it.

"Lilly, you can't be serious," Miley said to her through the door. Lilly came out a minute later wearing her green bathing suit and she was rearranging her hair back into a ponytail.

"How _dare_ he say I'm afraid? I'll show him!" she muttered under her breath with annoyance. She then let out an angry huff and turned to Miley. "You're coming?"

Miley debated it for a second and then sighed. "Fine. Wait for me," she said in a low voice and went to grab her own bathing suit.

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"Well, look who decided to show up," Jackson said mockingly as Miley and Lilly swam towards him. "I could hear all the way here your screams from the coast. '_Ahh! It's so cold! It's so cold!_'" he mimicked in a high, pitchy voice and chuckled while doing exaggerated hand movements.

"Ha ha, very funny," Miley said in a low voice, slightly shivering.

"Where is Oken?" Lilly asked, her voice hard.

Jackson looked puzzled. "What are you talking about? He's right her–" he turned to his left but saw there was no one there. He turned the other way, then spun around in a full circle, his head shooting from left to right and back again, slowly starting to panic. "Oliver?" he called out, his voice weak.

It was almost completely dark by now. The sky was a mixture of deep purple and dark blue and a few stars were shining bright. The only light was the nearly full moon from above and a golden line on the horizon. The lake was still and the water almost black. There was no sign of Oliver anywhere.

"Jackson...?" Miley asked in a strained voice, afraid to finish her question.

"I – I..." Jackson mumbled, his eyes looking around frantically.

"I can't believe you lost him!" Miley yelled at her brother and she checked the dark surface of the water. "OLIVER!"

"Are you sure he didn't swim further out the lake?" Lilly asked, her eyes wide and face stone-white with fear. Then suddenly she let out an ear-deafening shriek and disappeared into the deep blackness of the water, as if there was something in there that pulled her under.

"LILLY!" Miley screamed in panic, but Jackson began laughing and she turned to look at him, afraid he had gone crazy.

Suddenly, Lilly resurfaced and was kicking and hitting a dark figure which came out with her. Water was splashing everywhere and Jackson was laughing even harder at the scene, while Miley watched completely out of speech and Lilly was screaming and cursing at the dark figure, who tried to grab a hold of her while chuckling and trying to catch their breath at the same time.

"You idiot! I'll _never_ forgive you for that!" Lilly screamed at the top of her lungs at the person she was fighting with. Miley quickly realized that it was Oliver.

"Lilly, stop! Stop! I'm sorry!" Oliver said in between chuckles while he fought to restrain Lilly.

Miley turned to her brother, her eyes full of rage. She smacked him on the shoulder. "You played along with this?"

"Bozos! The both of you! _Idiots_!" Lilly yelled, now fully held in Oliver's arms from behind, unable to move.

"That's so cruel!" Miley cried out at the two boys, but they both kept chuckling.

"Evil!" Lilly screamed, trying unsuccessfully to free herself from Oliver's grasp.

"You should have seen your faces! I so nailed it!" Jackson said smugly. "Drama club, here comes the Jacksonator."

Oliver chuckled at that, but stopped abruptly when Lilly wouldn't stop fussing and he wondered how and when she became so strong. He could barely hold her still. "Lilly, will you stop it?" he complained.

"Will you let me go already?" she shot back.

"If I let you go, you have to promise me that you won't hit me!" he warned.

"Go to hell!" she yelled and kept kicking his shin under the water.

Oliver weaved their legs together to stop her kicking and pressed her firmly against his chest. He was glad it was dark enough by now, so that Miley and Jackson couldn't see how flushed his face had suddenly become. He glanced at them, and was annoyed by the amused looks they both had on their faces.

Rolling his eyes, he tightened his grip on the struggling girl in his arms and said, "Lilly, you have to stop squirming, or else you will drown and I won't dive after you and get you back up." He was only half joking, but his voice held a fake warning tone in it.

Lilly huffed angrily, but finally stilled. Oliver was glad that she was much shorter than him. He took the advantage that her feet couldn't reach the bottom of the lake, whilst his did, but he thought she didn't need to know that minor detail. He knew that even though she fought to put on a brave façade, she was afraid of drowning, just like she'd been afraid he had drowned only a few minutes ago. He also knew better not to cross her again; an even more furious Lilly would definitely cause both of them to somehow get hurt.

"I'm letting you go now," he said cautiously, but held her a moment longer to make sure she would hold still. When she did, Oliver finally released her, but quickly jumped back and kept his distance away from her, just in case she would pounce on him again.

Luckily for him, she didn't, but she turned around with a sour face and swam back to the shore.

"Lilly!" Miley called out, but received no answer from the blonde and so she swam after her.

Oliver could feel a tight hold around his heart. "Lilly, I said I was sorry," he tried to apologize. He sighed and followed Miley, leaving Jackson behind.

Oliver watched as Lilly climbed up the ladder to the deck, her body quivering madly from the cold; or was it from anger? He wasn't quite sure. "Come on, Lilly, don't be like that. You can ask Jackson; I didn't even mean to get you, I was actually going after Miley."

Miley, who was midway up the ladder stopped at that and shot him a glare.

"What?" he asked her innocently. "You would have taken it better than her," he tried to reason, but to no avail.

"You're a moron," Miley snapped and climbed up the rest of the way to the deck and went back into the cabin after Lilly.

It took a minute for all of it to sink in. When it did, Oliver shook his head and sighed sadly. _I am a moron_.

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**A/N:** Done reading? You like and want more? Leave a review please! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Thanks for everyone who reviewed and subscribed. Here's the next chapter. I hope you will enjoy it. PLEASE, please, please, please review after reading! Thank you!

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 3:**

Oliver was literally pulled out of bed the next morning; by the ear, no less. Therefore, it was no wonder there was a head full of shaggy dark brown hair, complaining about lack of sleep, resting on a plate at the dining table.

Oliver's mum got sick of it quickly and barked at him with her 'man voice' to pull himself together and wake up. It did the job, as always, and Oliver's head snapped up from the table in alarm.

He looked around blearily and ignored the snigger Jackson gave him from across the table. He reached over and helped himself for some bacon and eggs.

The door at the back of the room opened and out emerged Miley and Lilly in their pajamas. They walked over and joined everyone at the table for breakfast. "Morning," the two girls greeted happily.

Oliver shoved a fork full of eggs into his mouth and blinked in surprise at their good mood. They hadn't spoken to him at all since they went back from their swim last night, and went to sleep bitter and chose to ignore him and Jackson. He wondered if they forgot all about it by now, forgave him or simply chose to move on. He chose not to bring it up again, blessing their hyper moods and hoping they would keep acting like that for the rest of the day.

It was the Stewarts and Lilly's last day here and he wanted it to be better than yesterday. He made a promise to himself that he would do his best not to screw up again.

"G'd m'ning," he replied, still chewing his eggs and accidently spitting out small bits of it.

"Eww! Oliver, that's disgusting! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Miley remarked, making a disgusted face. "I swear, the more time you spend with Jackson, the more the two of you become alike."

Jackson smiled and puffed out his chest with pride, taking it as a compliment, while Oliver finally swallowed and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Miles, we're guys," Jackson explained and took a large bite off of a piece of bacon. "It's in our nature to talk with food in our mouths," he said while chewing on the piece of meat.

Lilly and Miley rolled their eyes simultaneously. "Boys..." they muttered under their breaths.

"So..." Robby Ray said with a smile, clapped his hands and then rubbed them together excitedly. "What are your plans for today, kids?"

"Oliver and I are going fishing," Jackson said and Oliver nodded eagerly.

Lilly made a choking sound and hid her smile behind her hands, trying her best to hold in her laughter. A few seconds later, she managed to compose herself and put on a straight face. "I'm sorry, but did you say _'Oliver'_ and _'Fishing'_ in the same sentence?"

Jackson and Oliver nodded. "That's right," Oliver said, raising his eyebrows and staring at her challengingly.

Lilly chuckled again. "Oh, okay. I hope you've taken an extra lifejacket, Jackson."

Oliver gasped in shock and looked at her offended. "I'll have you know that I am excellent at fishing!" he said defensively.

"Yeah, right," Lilly said, rolling her eyes in disbelief.

"Fine," Oliver said, straightening in his seat, "then why don't you come along and see for yourself?"

"Please, Oliver," Miley interrupted, waving him off. "We have much more important things to do today."

Jackson smirked. "Like what? Work on your tan?" he said mockingly.

Miley didn't say anything in return. The pout on her lips said Jackson had guessed right.

Oliver and Jackson chuckled together. They both excused themselves from the table after collecting their plates and went to get ready for their fishing trip. Their dads decided to join them in another boat and went to gather the fishing gear.

When all the guys left the cabin, Oliver stopped on the porch when he noticed Miley and Lilly had already spread towels on a nearby sunny grassplot and lay on them. They both were wearing their swimsuits. Miley was on her back, reading some sort of chick magazine, and Lilly was lying on her stomach, her head resting on her hands, sunglasses on.

"Oliver, are you coming?"

Oliver snapped out of his daze and turned to Jackson, who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Oliver shook his head to clear his mind, and went to join his friend. "Yeah."

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It was nearing noon and so far, they didn't have any luck. They sat back in their boat, swinging softly with the quiet waves as they waited patiently for a fish to catch their baits.

"Are you sure there are any fish in this lake?" Jackson asked, leaning on the boat's edge and into the still water, bored.

Oliver sighed. "Trust me, man, we'll catch some. We just need to be patient."

"Yee, doggies!" Robby Ray rejoiced suddenly from the other boat and then pulled out a fish that was caught on his hook.

"See?" Oliver said to Jackson, gesturing towards Robby Ray and his fish.

So they kept waiting. Jackson occasionally dozed off every few minutes and woke up each time he let out a loud snore. Whenever Jackson fell back asleep, Oliver took a chance to look back at the cabin area. It was hard to recognize anyone from this distance, but he could somehow spot the green and red bikinis Miley and Lilly were wearing.

Another snort was heard and Oliver chuckled, turning to look at a startled Jackson. He guessed it wouldn't take too long for him to fall asleep again, so he risked it and gazed back to the shore.

"What are you looking at?" Jackson suddenly asked. Oliver closed his eyes shut and wrinkled his nose when he realized he was caught. He guessed that Jackson hadn't didn't go back to sleep after all.

Oliver turned back to Jackson and looked innocently at him and shrugged. "Nothing."

Jackson, however, didn't seem convinced. His eyes narrowed and he looked at Oliver just like he did the day before.

"What?" Oliver asked, looking oddly at Jackson.

"You seem to be acting strange lately," Jackson noted suspiciously.

"Pffts! Uh, no I'm not," Oliver replied nervously. He began to feel hot flashes going through his body and seriously considered for a moment to jump into the water to cool off.

Oliver wished Jackson would forget it, but unfortunately Jackson wasn't the one to let things go that easily. "Yes, you are," he said. "What could it be? Is it a girl? It's always about a girl." He moved closer to inspect Oliver's now sweating face, trying to figure out Oliver's abnormal behavior.

"What? T-there is no g-girl. It's n-nothing, really, maybe I ate something bad," Oliver said, trying his best to make Jackson drop his investigation.

Oliver sure hoped Jackson would leave him alone. He didn't like people messing with his business and he especially didn't like to think about that himself. Every time his mind even went that way, he would force himself to think of something else. Not that it worked anyway, but he couldn't let Jackson know about it, too. He would torment him with it for days, months even.

Then it happened. Jackson let out a shocked gasp, covering his open mouth with both hands. "Oh, no, you didn't! _Really?_"

Still occupied with his internal battle of thoughts, Oliver didn't quite pay attention to what Jackson said. He only heard the last syllable, snapped his head towards Jackson and said in one quick breath, "What? Lilly? Who said anything about Lilly?"

Jackson's eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and he let out a winning laugh. "Oh, this is just getting better! _You_ did! You _just_ did!"

Oliver's face turned white as he quickly realized what his mouth just let slip. He froze, unable to move, think or even breathe.

Jackson didn't even notice Oliver's sudden stunned state and went on ecstatically. "I was actually thinking you liked Miley, but this is unbelievable! Since when do you even like her?"

"I – I... uh..." Oliver mumbled, trying to form a coherent sentence and finding it to be a difficult task. "I don't like her," he denied. Apparently, he didn't make it sound convincing at all.

"Come on, man, the cat is out of the bag, so spill it. You can tell me, I'm your buddy," Jackson said, and punched Oliver lightly on the shoulder while trying to lighten things up.

"I can't," Oliver simply said in a monotone voice. Jackson tried to give him his puppy-eyes-look, but Oliver rolled his eyes at that. He knew there was no point in denying it anymore. Jackson knew, but there was no need to spread the word. "Look, this isn't easy for me. You're Miley's brother, and Miley is Lilly's best girlfriend. They talk about this stuff regularly. If somehow this gets to Miley, she will tell Lilly in a heartbeat."

"So? Isn't that good?"

"No!" Oliver objected. "I can't let Lilly know about this, okay?"

Jackson looked confused. "Why not? Isn't that what you want?"

Oliver sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes. No. I don't know. I mean, we've known each other since we were three and we've been best friends ever since. Then, I suddenly get hit by puberty and somehow I'm crushing on her. She doesn't feel the same way and I'd like to keep it like that. That way, she won't ever reject me or laugh in my face, and our friendship won't be ruined." He finished and lowered his head, embarrassed by his own confession. He didn't mean to tell Jackson. He didn't mean to tell anyone. Ever.

Jackson looked at him in astonishment. "Wow," he whispered, amazed by Oliver's confession. "How did you even start to like her in the first place?" he asked.

Oliver sighed. "I don't know. It sort of just happened, I guess. It was around prom, I think. Maybe seeing her wearing that tight dress that night stirred something in me."

Jackson gave him a sympathetic nod and Oliver was surprised that he never even made an attempt to make fun of him. He merely looked as if he was relating himself to Oliver's troubles. Then he clapped on Oliver's forearm, smiled and said, "I know how you feel, and I still think you should tell her. Life can be surprising. Who knows? Maybe she even likes you back? Maybe she's out there, telling Miley the same story, about how much she likes you but can't tell you?"

Oliver hoped it was true, but knew that it wasn't. Lilly was thinking about him as nothing but than a friend.

"Forget it, Jackson, it's not happening. I will just get over it."

"Seriously? You're not going to do anything?" Jackson asked. Oliver shook his head in response. "But you have to! You have the perfect time and perfect place to make a move!"

Oliver looked strangely at him again. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it! Both of you are here, alone, at this gorgeous, romantic place. You can take her somewhere isolated and just tell her. It's the perfect setting. She feels the same, I swear, Oliver. I can see it when she looks at you."

Oliver sighed again. "This all sounds like a wonderful fairytale, Jackson, and that's what it is, nothing but a fairytale, because you're forgetting one thing: Lilly is leaving with you guys for Europe tonight. Even if she does like me back – which by the way, makes you delusional, in my opinion – she won't be here for me to tell her how I feel."

Jackson then smirked. He looked as if an invisible light bulb turned on right above his head. "Leave it up to me," he said.

Oliver gulped nervously. _Trusting Jackson? I don't like where this is going..._

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**A/N:** Liked? Review please! Chapter 4 is waiting for you if you only review. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews! Please keep commenting, I want to know how I'm doing and what you think. Here's the chapter 4. Hope you enjoy!

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 4:**

Two hours later, they went back. Robby Ray highly praised himself about the only fish he had caught. Even Oliver and Jackson managed to catch some fish on their own. After they talked, Oliver seemed to get luckier. It didn't take them long to fill their bucket with no less than three Brook Trouts. Sure, they were small, but it was more than what their dads caught.

Miley and Lilly rushed over to see and Lilly seemed to be impressed that Oliver had actually managed to catch three fish. Oliver blushed when she praised him and apologized for doubting his fishing skills. He tried to ignore it when Jackson elbowed him lightly and gave him a wink.

Oliver's mum couldn't have been more ecstatic about the fish and suggested they would grill them for dinner. Oliver's dad agreed excitedly and went with Robby Ray to start the grill. The kids were all called to help inside. As they all made their way to the cabin, Jackson grabbed Miley's arm and stopped her.

"Hey, I need to talk to you for a second," he said in a low voice, but Oliver could still hear him. They exchanged looks, and Oliver watched as Jackson pulled a confused Miley around the side of the cabin. Oliver made sure Lilly had returned inside and stayed on the porch, so he could hear what Jackson was saying, while still keeping one eye on Lilly through the half-open door. He hoped it would work and that Jackson would act accordingly to plan. Lilly could not find out about this in any way.

"What's up?" Miley asked.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to agree to it," Jackson said carefully.

"Is this about the time that I caught you on camera trying on my Hannah wig? Because I told you that I'm keeping those pictures for blackmail."

Oliver tried his best not to laugh. He didn't want Miley to know he was eavesdropping.

"No!" Jackson said, sounding embarrassed. "And you said you weren't going to mention it again. I was going to ask you to tell Lilly she can't come to Europe with us."

"Brother-Trying-Blonde-Wigs _say what?_"

"Please, Miles, this is important!" Jackson said pleadingly. Oliver couldn't believe how sincere Jackson sounded. He didn't know why he wanted him to get together with Lilly so badly, but he needed to thank him in case his plan would work out.

"Jackson, if you think you can kick Lilly out of this trip, then you better step back now before I kick you out!" Miley said angrily and Oliver could see her approaching shadow on the ground as she stomped back to the cabin. Jackson grabbed her hand again and pulled her back. "Jackson!"

"Please, Miley, you don't understand! Lilly _has_ to stay here!"

"No, you're right, I don't understand. I don't understand why you want me so bad to keep Lilly out of this trip! Her mum finally agreed to let her come and we've been planning it all morning, so please tell me what is so important that she has to stay here instead of touring Europe with her best friend!"

There was a short moment of silence. "I can't tell you," Jackson finally said quietly. Oliver was glad he had kept his promise and didn't tell her the actual reason.

"Then I'm leaving," Miley said and she made her way to the stairs in front of the cabin. This time Jackson didn't stop her. She noticed Oliver was standing there, watching her and she huffed angrily and shook her head.

"But I can," Oliver then said. It was out of the blue, but he already slipped once today, and he wanted this so badly that he had to do anything in order to get his way.

"What?" Miley asked, confused.

"I can tell you why Jackson asked you that. It's because I asked him to. I want Lilly to stay here," Oliver explained.

"Y'all are both out of your minds!" Miley exclaimed and made her way up the stairs.

Oliver took a deep breath and whispered to her, "I am. I'm so out of my mind, crazy, falling for her."

Miley froze in place at that. She slowly turned to Oliver and stared at him. "Say that again?"

He looked uncomfortably at the ground and shuffled his foot on the wooden floor. "You heard me, Miley. There's no need for a repeat."

"You? You like Lilly?" Miley asked in disbelief.

Oliver nodded. "And I want to tell her. Soon. And I won't be able to wait as long as six more weeks until she'd be back from Europe. I need her to stay here, so we can be alone. This could be my only chance. Please."

Miley turned around to look at Jackson, as though she needed a confirmation on the information she just received, or to tell if they were both pranking her again. When Jackson stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hands in his pockets and his face straight, she let out a shriek and ran back down to Jackson and started to hit his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Oww! Oww! I couldn't!" Jackson cried, flinching. "He threatened to throw me into the lake if I did!"

Oliver rushed over to them and pressed his finger to his lips, motioning for them to be quiet. The door was still open and the last thing he needed now was Lilly coming out to ask questions. "Miley, you can't say anything to Lilly."

"Well, of course I won't. I don't want to ruin the surprise."

Oliver's eyes suddenly lightened up at what she said. "So you mean you will do it?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I will, but it doesn't mean that I'm happy about it. Well, I'm happy to hear that you like her. I told you countless of times that you guys are perfect for each other," she said and Oliver grinned. "But I'm not happy that I now have to tell her she can't come with me. I mean, what am I going to say to her? She'll be crushed!"

"Well, that's why Oliver is going to be here, comforting her," Jackson said as he slipped between them and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. "You'll figure something out, Miles."

"I hope I'm not going to regret this," Miley muttered. "I swear, Oken, if you won't be able to sum up the courage and do it, I'm going to hunt. You. Down!"

Oliver gulped hard but nodded in agreement. He was glad that Jackson was standing between them and keeping them apart. Miley could be scary sometimes...

–––

Oliver shut his eyes as tight as he could, his elbows on his knees while he pressed his palms to his ears. He sat in the living room, cringing at the sounds coming from the next room. Lilly was there, crying, and she was being pretty loud. Oliver did not expect that to happen; Lilly rarely cried. The last time he remembered seeing her cry like this was on the first day of second grade, when they came home after school and Lilly found out from her mum that her cat got run over by a car. Now Oliver felt bad because he was the reason for making her cry in the first place. Only Lilly didn't know that. There was a heavy feeling at the pit of his stomach and he felt as though her cat got killed all over again, but this time he was the one who did it.

He rubbed his temples, trying to make some of the tension go away. "Tell me I did the right thing," he muttered to Jackson, who sat on the other couch and played with the PlayStation.

"You did the right thing," Jackson said automatically, his tongue sticking out as he moved from side to side while playing a car race game.

Oliver frowned at his friend's robotic tone. "Really?"

Jackson sighed, annoyed being interrupted during his game. "Probably not," he said half-distracted, his eyes still glued to the Plasma screen. "But you had to do _something_."

"Right."

"Although, you could have just waited patiently and let her go to Europe and tell her when she got back," Jackson added. "It could probably have been best that way, too, because then she'd be in a good mood. Oh well..."

Oliver shot him a deadly glare. "But you said –" he started to argue, but stopped when he saw Jackson was way into the game and there was no point complaining to a zombie right now about how he had convinced him to make this move in the first place.

Oliver sank in thought once again. He hated himself right now, and mostly he hated hearing Lilly's wails. He was listening carefully and could distinctly hear Miley's soothing voice, obviously comforting Lilly. He felt awful, knowing he had caused it all.

Feeling the need to be close to her and stop her from hurting, he automatically pushed himself up from his seat and walked over to stand outside the closed door of Miley's and Lilly's room. He hesitated, but gulped hard and gathered up the courage to knock. He heard another soft sob from Lilly, then Miley's whispers and some shuffling. The key in the lock rustled, the door opened slightly and Miley's head poked out. When she set her eyes on Oliver, they narrowed menacingly and she groaned.

"What do _you_ want?" she snapped at him, making Oliver take a step back and look at her with fearful eyes. He certainly didn't expect her sudden change of attitude. It was less than an hour ago that she was ecstatic about finding out about Oliver's feelings towards Lilly. Now she turned 180 degrees. She was no longer Smiley Miley, but more like Scary Miley.

"Uh..." he said, becoming speechless all of the sudden. Miley had never scared him this much before.

"Oh, just come in," she said impatiently, stepping aside and giving him access to the room.

He walked in slowly, finding the room lightly dimmed with the sunlight barely illuminating it through the half-closed shades.

Miley locked the door after him and then rushed over to the lump on the large bed that stood in the middle of the room. There could be no mistaking that it was Lilly underneath the large comforter. The same said lump sniffed softly.

Oliver stood uncomfortably in a dark corner, watching as Miley whispered to Lilly, "It's just Oliver..."

Then, as if a button was pressed, Lilly snapped up from underneath the blanket and sat up straight in bed. Her eyes were red, swollen and had dark circles underneath them. They looked around the room frantically until they landed on Oliver. He looked back at her, giving her a shy smile. He studied the intense stare of her blue eyes, and how her cheeks were streaked by mascara stains, or how her hair was tousled crazily as if a whirlwind had just passed through the room. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but blush at the thought of her looking beautiful.

"Lills, I'm sorry," Oliver said apologetically.

She sniffled again and her cheeks turned pink. "Sorry for what? It's not your fault –" Lilly started, but Miley cut her off and before Oliver had the chance to respond.

"Yes, Oliver. It's not your fault the airline didn't book her a ticket," Miley said, looking at him pointedly.

"What...?" Oliver said, not quite following.

Miley rolled her eyes and turned back to Lilly. "I swear Lilly, I will not keep quiet about this! I will sue!" she exclaimed rather dramatically. "They can't do that to Hannah Montana... or her best friend! If only the private jet wasn't broken..."

"Miley, it doesn't matter anymore, I can't go," Lilly said in a small voice and Oliver felt sorry for her. "You did everything you could. It's just so weird that every other scheduled flight is already full. Are you sure you checked right?" she asked, looking confused.

Miley shrugged. "What can I say? It's summer break. People like Europe in the summer."

Lilly seemed to believe everything she was told. Oliver was starting to believe Miley as well, but it quickly dawned on him that Miley wasn't that great of an actress. Once he realized that Miley was telling Lilly pure lies and that he was a part of it, Oliver let up a sudden hiccup and his eyes widened in horror. Both girls immediately turned to him. He saw Miley's murdering gaze and pressed both of his palms over his mouth at once, and paced quickly over to the window, praying that Lilly would not pick up on the true meaning behind his sudden hiccup. Luckily, she looked like she didn't put any thought into it, so he stood silently by the window and peered though the shades to view the lake. He was listening to the girls' conversation, but didn't have anything to say. If he did, he would probably let out another hiccup and ruin Miley's cover story. Damn his reflexes! Why did he have to hiccup every time he lied?

"Well, at least you won't be alone," Miley said, rubbing Lilly's shoulder soothingly. She handed her a Kleenex. Oliver flinched when she blew her nose in it loudly. "You still have Oliver. And Oliver's cool, right?" Miley added suggestively and Oliver turned around, surprised to see her looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a kind smile on her face. Man, that girl's mood could change rapidly!

"Uh-huh," Lilly nodded and rubbed her nose with her tissue.

"Oliver will show you great time here. Won't you, Oliver?"

Oliver nodded, still afraid to speak up, in case another hiccup would escape his mouth.

Miley smiled in satisfaction and turned back to Lilly. "Now, I know Lake Tahoe isn't Europe, but I promise I will make it up to you. Okay?"

Lilly wiped her face clean with a fresh tissue. "Okay." Miley smiled, moved closer and gave her a warm hug. Oliver felt a small pang of jealousy. He wanted Lilly to hug him too, but he didn't want to make things awkward because he had nothing to do with their conversation.

"Now let's get you cleaned up. You look like a raccoon," Miley said jokingly and Lilly chuckled. Oliver couldn't help but let out a snigger as well, but immediately regretted it when he received yet another glare from Miley. He guessed some jokes weren't meant to be laughed at by guys.

Miley took Lilly to the bathroom that was next to their room and shut the door in front of Oliver's face when he followed. He was only trying to make sure Lilly was doing alright. He knew Miley was slightly mad at him for making her do this to Lilly, making her look like the bad guy while he was being the hero. Then again, he shouldn't care. The hero always got the girl.

_Right?_

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**A/N: **I want to get at least 5 reviews on this, so please tell me what you think. Feel free to make suggestions and ask questions, I do read them all and take great consideration including your ideas. You can even post anonymous reviews, so you don't have to sign up. I just want to know what you think and if I should continue. There's much more planned to happen and chapter 5 is already done, but I only post it if you review. So please do, don't be shy, I don't bite :) Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Fine, I'll take what I can get. At least there are some good souls who reviewed this story, so I owe it to them to continue it. This is dedicated to all of you, my wonderful reviewers. Thank you. Please don't forget to review this chapter as well and tell me if you liked it. Enjoy! :)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 5:**

By nightfall, the Stewarts were already packed to leave. After receiving a playful punch to the shoulder by Jackson, Oliver watched as Lilly and Miley hugged and said goodbye. Miley were whispering things in her friend's ear that Oliver couldn't make out, but only guessed them being as encouragements. He watched Lilly pull back from the hug, then nod and finally smile sadly.

Then they parted and Miley walked over to Oliver and engulfed him in a friendly embrace as well. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

Miley pulled slightly back and gave him a punch to the shoulder; only her punch was much stronger than Jackson's, so hard in fact, that he had to take a double step back from its force.

"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing at the sore spot.

Miley then smiled kindly and threw her arms around him once more. "Don't mess this up," she said in a fake sweet voice, which obviously held some bitterness in it.

Oliver nodded shakily at her and she unwrapped herself from him and walked over to the car, where her dad and brother already waited.

The Okens and Truscotts waved goodbye at the backing car and watched it disappear into the dark road flanked by the tall trees.

Once they were finally gone and there was nothing but the silence of the woods and the crickets on the trees, everyone walked back inside to the cabin. Oliver stopped and looked back, seeing that only Lilly had remained frozen in place. She was still staring blankly at the spot where the Stewarts' car had been a minute before.

He slowly walked back to her, bowing his head slightly so he could catch the look in her eyes, but she refused to lift it. Oliver stood silently beside her, just watching her. He wondered what she was thinking about, or if she was thinking about anything at all. The blank expression on her face confused him and he was afraid to ask. He sensed that talking right now would probably be a bad idea. The less they say, the better she will feel. Oliver simply joined her in her silence, letting her know without words, just by being present that he was still there for her, emotionally and physically.

He didn't know how many minutes had gone by as they stayed there, doing nothing but stare at the darkness. A shiver went down his spine as a chilly wind blew softly. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looked up at the sky, noting how the moon was almost full tonight and how it was giving a slight glow over the park. A lone sigh broke his thoughts and suddenly he felt a hand sneak around his. He turned slightly but at that exact moment Lilly had rested her head on his shoulder. Whether it was a gesture for trying to get close to him because she shared his feelings or simply because she was getting cold as well, Oliver didn't know nor care, he accepted both, but the goose-bumps on her arms told him it was the latter. He heard her inhale deeply the cool night air and he sighed in return.

"Let's get inside," he whispered and felt her give a slight nod.

They walked back inside, in the same awkward position and said nothing more for the night.

–––

The springs of his bed bounced as a heavy figure came to lie beside him. Surprised at the shift on his mattress, Oliver groaned in protest and turned his back to his disrupter, his eyes opening just a crack, not expecting to catch the blinding sunlight that lit his room, but when they did he let out a whining moan and immediately squeezed them back shut, covering his face with his blanket as quickly as he could.

"Owen, get off!" he growled in a husky voice.

The giggle he received in return, however, didn't sound like it belonged to his brother. It had more of a chime to it. Slowly, Oliver lifted his blanket from his eyes and turned to look behind his shoulder. He suddenly realized that the person who lay next to him looked nothing like his brother. The first thing he noticed was the blonde hair, the second was the set of blue eyes that were gazing back at him. He blinked, thinking he was just imagining things, but the scene before his eyes did not change.

"Hey," he croaked, still shocked to find a girl in his bed, and it was not just a girl, either.

She was holding a part of his blanket close to her face, making only her eyes visible, and even when he couldn't see the rest of her face, it was evident that she was hiding a smile. He could easily spot the small wrinkles around the corners of her eyes, which always appeared when she smiled. He loved it whenever she did, because then she seemed to glow. If he didn't know any better, he would have to think that the room was lit because of her and not from the sun shining through the window. She seemed to be in a good mood and he was glad her gloominess had disappeared overnight.

"Hi," she replied shyly. "Sorry I woke you."

"'s okay," he muttered sleepily.

A short and comfortable moment of silence passed between them and they kept looking at each other without any words. Oliver was listening closely. There were only the birds chirping outside and the light breathings of the both of them. Other than that, it was complete silent around the cabin, which seemed rather odd.

"What's up?" he asked after a minute, turning fully now to face her.

Lilly stretched out her arms and legs and let out a content sigh. She turned to lie on her back, stealing half of Oliver's pillow to support her neck and quickly sneaking underneath the unused part of his blanket. "Remember when we used to sleep over at each other's houses? Those were good times," she reflected dreamily.

Oliver chuckled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Naïve times," he corrected. "We were like, what, eight?"

"Uh-umm," Lilly hummed in confirmation. "I missed those days. Why don't we ever do stuff like that anymore, Ollie? Just you and I?"

The childhood nickname she once gave him and barely used in years, made his heart give a slight pleasant jolt.

"Because we're not kids anymore, Lilly. Do you really want to face my livid mother when she catches you in my bed first thing in the morning? She might assume things...happened."

Lilly let out a laugh. "Oh, so it's because I wear bras now?"

Oliver turned bright red and cleared his throat before letting out a nervous laugh. "Uh, yes, Lilly, it's because you wear bras," he said, rolling his eyes and somewhat managing to sound sarcastic.

Lilly giggled again. "I like it, being alone with you," she said after a moment.

Oliver raised his eyebrows, breathing deeply to keep his pulse slow. He shouldn't get excited about something she was saying out of friendship. "Oh?" he asked, confused. "Where is everyone?"

"Out," she said simply.

Oliver frowned. "Out where? What time is it, anyway?"

Lilly shrugged. "I dunno. Nine-thirtyish. They left us a note on the fridge saying they went to Willa's, or something like that, and that we should meet them there."

That made Oliver to shoot and sit upright in bed. "You mean _Wilma's_?"

Lilly, taken aback from his sudden jump, held the blanket closer to her face. "Uh, yes, I think that was it said..."

Oliver shot out of bed, not even noticing he had thrown the blanket all over Lilly. He ran to his closet and quickly pulled out a set of clean clothes. "Get up, we're going out."

Lilly, still struggling to untangle herself from the mess of the large blanket, stopped and watched as he giddily went to the bathroom to change.

She huffed in fake annoyance once he was gone. "Yeah, don't mind me; I'm just being attacked by a giant blanket over here..."

Finally managing to get herself free, she stood up from the bed and went downstairs to her own room to change.

"What's Wilma's anyway?" she called over the stairs.

"Only the best place in the world," Oliver shouted back through the closed door.

At that, Oliver stopped his actions and looked at himself at the mirror above the sink, his toothbrush held loose in his mouth. Out of the blue, Jackson's words from yesterday rushed into his mind. _"Both __of __you __are __here, __alone, __at __this __gorgeous, __romantic __place__... __She __feels __the __same, __I __swear, __Oliver."_

"What are you doing?" he muttered to himself in disbelief. "There was a gorgeous girl in your bed and you had to ruin a perfect moment with her because all you can think about is food!"

_"Remember when you used to like cake more than girls?"_

Oliver held both sides of the ceramic sink and moved closer to inspect his face in the mirror. Did he really not change in three years? Sure, there was a small zit on his forehead and luckily his hair grew to cover it up, and there was a small patch of stubble growing on his cheeks and chin. He developed a few muscles and didn't look so scrawny anymore, _and_ he even had more than one chest hair! But deep down, inside, did his personality stay the same? Did he not mature? He was seventeen for God's sake, he should act like it!

"Okay, Oliver. You've got one more chance. Don't blow this."

–––

Ten minutes later, they were both outside, dressed and clean and ready to go. Unfortunately, Oliver then noticed his dad's car was missing. "Oh, man! They took the car!"

Lilly looked confused at him. "Well, can't we walk there?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, it'd take too long by foot." Glancing around, he noticed Heather's shiny red convertible parking under the shade of a large pine tree. "Hey, do you have your mum's keys?"

She shrugged feebly. "No."

"Damn," he hissed. "Didn't they think about how we are supposed to get there?"

Lilly, who was looking around for any sort of solution, suddenly tapped Oliver's shoulder. "Uh, Oliver?"

He turned around to see her pointing at something leaning on the side wall of the cabin: one old pair of rusty bicycle. Oliver wrinkled his nose. "Well, better that than nothing."

–––

"Hold on tight!" Oliver laughed as he pedaled along the road on the way to Wilma's.

Lilly shrieked out a laugh of her own. "I am, you donut! Stop swinging me!"

They soared down the hills and round the curves of the road, the old bike rattled and shook in Oliver's hands. They were surrounded by the beautiful green setting of tall trees, and bright, warm morning air. Their laughs echoed around the quietness of the park and Oliver felt as though they were the only two living persons there.

"Well, who would have guessed you'd be so heavy?" he retorted in mock annoyance.

Lilly gasped, taking him seriously. "I am not! You take that back!"

"Fine, fine, I'm only joking," Oliver chuckled.

She was sitting on the handlebars, leaning back into his chest, while he bent forward as he rode the bike, barely sitting on the stool. The dangerous position they were in never registered their minds. After all, they were teenagers and lived for danger, fun and adrenaline. Lilly's hands held his firmly while he was looking over her shoulder, and he found it hard to concentrate. The scent of her shampoo was distracting him greatly, almost driving him insane; it was apples, his favorite. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, silently taking a whiff of her hair, sucking the sweet scent in, filling himself with it. It was only for a second. Unable to control himself anymore, he slowly laced his fingers with hers and bent his head to her neck, nearing his lips to the pulse point between her jaw and ear. He almost touched her skin just when her voice broke his trance and he was forced to wake up. It was less than a second, he swore.

"Oliver, look out!" she called in alarm as he almost lost balance and steered them off the road and into the trees. He quickly composed himself and righted them back, returning to the middle of the road. He thanked his lucky stars there wasn't any traffic up the road at the moment. If a car drove past them, they could have been hurt. "Honestly! Could you be a little more careful? What were you thinking?"

_I __was __thinking __about __y__ou_, he wanted to say. "Sorry, I wasn't," he said instead. "Won't happen again."

"Donut..." she muttered under her breath, yet he couldn't help but smile.

The ride didn't take much longer. They were getting nearer. Oliver could even sense the fresh sweet smell of breakfast in the air. _Stop __it! _he snapped at himself. _Think __of __something __else __for __a __change! _He was fighting an internal battle of three sides: his mind, heart and stomach, and so far, he couldn't decide which side was winning.

Right when he was about to think of something to say in order to break the awkward silence that fell between them, Lilly spoke.

"So, who's Wilma?"

Thankful for the distraction, Oliver started to explain. "Well, I don't know who she is exactly, I never met her, but her diner is one of the best around. You'll see, we'd be there in a moment."

It didn't take them long, just like he said. Five minutes later, they had arrived. Oliver noticed his dad's car was parking in the small parking lot outside the dinner, along with a few others vehicles. He locked the bicycle next to a tall pole and walked with Lilly inside.

There was nothing special in the appearance of this place. It looked like any other random diner. The walls were painted half white and half a hospital teal color and there was the usual row of bar stools next to the front high counter and besides the scattered square tables for two, there were comfy booths lined near the windows. The waitresses had pink uniforms that did not match the color palette of the walls, and white aprons, and they walked around with trays and pots of coffee in their hands. For Oliver, it was a part of childhood, remembering how he and his family always used to come here whenever they came to the cabin. That's why it was so dear to him; it resurfaced memories, good memories.

Oliver spotted his family and Lilly's mum over the back of the room. They had taken a large booth to fill all six of them. He walked over and Lilly followed. He noticed her look around, probably wondering why he found this ordinary place so special and knew that even if he began to explain, she would never understand.

"Hey, there they are," Oliver's dad called as he saw them approaching their table. Oliver took a seat between him and his brother, while Lilly walked over to sit across from him, next to her mum.

"Hey sweetie," Heather greeted her daughter, kissing her cheek.

"Hey, Mum."

"Did you sleep well? I didn't want to wake you, you seemed like you needed some sleep after last night."

Lilly blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling better, thanks." She then looked over at Oliver. "So what are we having?"

"Everything," Oliver replied with a huge smile of his face.

She raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Everything?"

"Everything," everyone confirmed and then burst into a gale of laughter.

Oliver chuckled. "Yes, they have an All-You-Can-Eat Special."

"Yes, and it's all already paid for, so don't be shy," Oliver's mum added.

"Oh," Lilly said quietly. Then a smirk spread on her face. "So that means that I'll see you, Oliver, tonight?"

Oliver gave her a fake pout. "Ha-ha, very funny."

Everyone laughed again. Oliver and Lilly received their first batch of breakfast and they began to dig in while the rest of occupants around the table began to share stories.

Lilly was full after the first two pancakes. Oliver, who neglected the sweets because of his diabetes, was now on his second helping of eggs and bacon.

Lilly looked at him with slight disgust as he shoved food into his mouth as if he was in some sort of hurry. "Do you always eat like a pig? Where do you stuff all that, anyway?"

Oliver looked up at her innocently. "I'm a growing boy," he gave as an excuse.

"He's more like a cow than a pig," Owen chimed in. "He has something like four stomachs. I told Mum and Dad we should get him tested."

Lilly giggled while Oliver gave his brother a glare. "Shut up," he hissed at him, and Owen poked his tongue childishly in response.

"Actually, a cow has one stomach with four compartments, so I think Oliver might make a unique cow if he only has one compartment in his stomach," Lilly said and gave Oliver a wink.

Oliver smiled kindly at her and decided that he had enough to eat, and shoved his plate away from him. Wilma will forgive him, he was positive of that.

_And __Lilly? __Well, __I'm __sure __she __doesn't __really __care __after __all._

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**A/N: **Please review and I'll update soon! Thank you!  
>Review review review review review review review review review...<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Thank you for everyone who reviewed, you made my day. I didn't intend on posting it today, but I do, just for you. Now, chapter 6 is here! Give me some love! :)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 6:**

"Hey," Oliver said, walking over to his dad's car. The back door was open and he saw Lilly was sitting inside with his brother. His dad was keeping the engine on while they all waited for Heather and Nancy to get back from the restroom.

"Hey," she replied with a sweet smile.

"What are you doing there?"

"Sitting."

"I can see that. Want to make some room?"

At that, Oliver's dad cut in. "No, no, Oliver, you have to get the bike back to the cabin, son."

Oliver turned to him, stunned. "What? Can't you just strap it on to the car?"

"And with what exactly?" his dad replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh... with the straps you used for the luggage?" he suggested, his tone suggesting as if it was the most obvious thing in the world; he wondered how his dad didn't think of that.

"Left them back at the cabin, Oliver. Come on, it won't be that bad. You can burn up the calories you just gained."

"God knows you need it!" Owen interrupted from behind Lilly. Oliver saw her snigger at the comment. He swore that if Lilly wasn't in the way, he would have pounced on him by now. That kid needs to learn when to shut up.

"But Dad!" Oliver whined, turning back to his father. "'Won't be that bad?' Do you know how tough it will be to go up the hills riding that old thing? Besides, it'll take me at least an hour."

"Well, you rode it here, you ride it back."

"Not fair! You didn't leave me any other vehicle to get here."

"Well, excuse us for thinking you wanted to sleep in. Take it back, Oliver," his dad said in a final tone and Oliver knew he couldn't argue anymore.

"Fine," he grumbled. He turned back to Lilly. "Come on," he said and walked back to where he put the bicycle. When he noticed she didn't follow, he turned around to see her still sitting in the car, looking at him sheepishly. "Lilly?" he asked, beckoning her over.

She remained seated in the car and blinked at him, her eyes full with hesitation. "Uh..." she said uncertainly.

Her mum and his finally returned and walked over to the car. Once everyone was buckled up in the car, Lilly made an uncomfortable face at Oliver and shut her door. "Sorry," she mouthed and shrugged, as though being helpless. His dad drove the car up the hill and to the direction of their cabin.

"Damn," Oliver hissed and walked over to unlock the rusted bike.

It took him exactly one hour and five minutes to get back. He was sweaty and panting hard.

As he entered the cabin, all three parents and Lilly were seated at the dining table, playing some sort of a card game, while Owen was playing the PlayStation at the living room. They all looked up as he walked in and watched him struggle up the stairs.

"You're all evil," he called as he took the final step to the second floor and entered the bathroom, planning on staying in the shower for at least another hour. From outside the door, he could hear the distinct sniggers of four amused people.

–––

Feeling betrayed, hurt and most especially exhausted, Oliver decided to spend the next few hours inside his room. Distracting himself with a small tennis ball he had found in one of the drawers of his bedside table, he lay in reverse on the bed, his head resting at the end, propped on a pillow, and tossed the ball at the opposite wall, catching it each time it bounced back.

He wasn't surprised when he heard soft knocks on his door; although they were so soft that at first he thought that he was just imagining, but then he heard it again. Three knocks, just as light as the first time. He had anticipated it, of course. He knew exactly who was behind that door and knew she'd come sooner or later. Honestly, he didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, and that included Lilly.

He never invited her in, but yet she still pressed on the handle and poked her head warily inside. "Ollie?" she asked in a small voice.

He didn't reply, but turned his head to look at her regardless. It was hard staying mad at her when she sounded so... vulnerable. He saw something glisten on her face and knew exactly what it was. He pushed himself into a sitting position and as he did just that, she slipped through the door, kicking it shut behind her and ran across the room to his bed. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, soaking his shirt with tears.

Oliver, shocked at first, stayed frozen, not quite sure what to do. What could have already happen in the last few hours that will make her turn from happy to sad again? Gently, he wrapped his arms around her back, holding her head firmly to his shoulder while playing absentmindedly with a lock of her soft hair.

"Shh..." he soothed and began to rock her back and forth. He absorbed the feeling of her in his arms, enjoying every minute of it and still hating himself for it because she was hurting.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his shoulder. He wasn't sure what she was sorry for, for ditching him this morning or coming to him while being at this state.

"It's okay," he reassured her, stroking her hair gently. No matter what she was apologizing for, he was sucker enough to forget it and move on as if it never happened. "Why are you crying?"

She sniffed. "I felt lonely. And I thought you were mad at me."

Then he realized. Not only Miley had left her here, practically in the middle of nowhere, where she could have been with her in Europe or on the contrary, back at home, either way, a place she was comfortable in, now he had gone and made things even worse. She had no other friend here but him. Lilly was an emotional wreck for the past two days, and while he was being an insensitive, selfish jerk, he had forgotten all about it. It was his mission after all to get her to love him, not to push her away.

"I'm not, I'm not," he repeated, assuring her that he really meant it.

She pulled slightly back and they locked their eyes; hers were tear-filled while his stared back worriedly. When neither shifted their gaze for awhile, Oliver could actually feel tension begin to build between them. Just as it happened that morning, he found himself mesmerized with her and felt close to losing self control. His eyes lowered to her lips, seeing they were slightly parted and rosy pink and he felt the warmth of her body begin to seep through him, inviting him in. He took another fleeting look at her eyes, and was surprised to see she had shut them tight.

He wanted so bad to just close the few inches between them and kiss her, but she did not look ready for it and he didn't want to force her or maybe surprise her with something she was not expecting. He was her best friend, after all, and best friends don't kiss.

It took all his will power to hold himself back. Instead of touching his lips to hers, he cupped her cheek in his hand and stroked away her escaping tears with his thumb.

She let out a heavy sigh, one she was probably holding for a short while. She seemed relieved and he slightly grimaced. Slowly, she opened her eyes and he gave her a friendly smile.

"Did you speak to Miley today?" he asked, forcing himself to break the tension.

She looked confused for a moment, as though not sure what he had just asked her. She blinked once and then nodded. "She called me this morning, before I woke you up. She says hi."

"What else did she say?"

"Well, she didn't want to tell me much, but I guessed she was having fun."

Oliver thought about the time difference. "They probably just landed when she called. Besides, I'm sure she didn't want you to be sad, Lilly."

Lilly nodded again and unwrapped herself away from Oliver and shifted so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back to him. "I know. And I'm happy for her, and I know I'm being silly feeling this way. I can't keep being upset about it forever, it's just a stupid trip."

"We can have fun on our own," Oliver suggested and she looked up at him in wonder. "How about tomorrow morning? We can go out and do something."

She sniffed once more. "Sure."

"Hey, stop it," he said and reached over to grab her nose between his index and middle finger.

"Ouch!" she cried in protest and swatted his hand away from her face. "Oliver!"

"_'Oliver!'_" he mimicked her in a high voice. "You're such a baby."

"You're a baby!"

"Look," he said, holding his hand up. "Now I've got snot all over my hand."

She smiled in satisfaction. "Well, that's your problem. No one asked you to grab my nose."

"Not true. It's so cute it was practically begging me."

Lilly laughed incredulously, crossing her arms over her chest, but still looking slightly amused. "Oh, really?"

"I swear it." He raised his hand, holding three fingers up while his thumb covered his pinky. "Scout's honor."

She laughed harder. "You've never even been to the scouts!"

Oliver smirked. "I know, so don't trust me."

She looked at him, simply studying his goofy face. "You're such a donut."

At that, Oliver's stomach gave a loud grumble and he grimaced. "Eh, speaking of donuts, wanna go grab a bite?"

–––

The dice hit the board with a soft _thud_ sound. "Six," Lilly read, but before Oliver could make his move, she began laughing. "Ooh, jail time for Ollie!" She then gasped mockingly, putting one hand over her heart and the other covering her mouth, making an overdramatic shocked expression and added, "I never figured you for the criminal type!"

"What?" Oliver called, flabbergasted. "No freaking way!"

"Way!" she said and moved his shoe token six steps ahead, as if to prove her point, until it landed on the "Go to Jail" spot.

Oliver's face sunk in defeat. He was never good at Monopoly, but then again it was only a game of luck; luck, which Lilly seemed to have plenty of every time they played this game.

Owen, who joined them at the game, snickered and played his turn. "Electric company! I'm buying!" he declared excitedly, and Lilly, who was the one in charge of all the bank money and cards, exchanged his bills for the relevant card he just paid for.

It was now her turn to roll the dice. Oliver picked them up for her at the same time she reached for them. Their hands touched briefly and Oliver was charged with electricity all over again. A blush crept to his cheeks and he bowed his head, trying his best to hide it. Oliver noted how unfazed she was when they touched. She didn't feel what he felt and that made him feel even worse.

Unaware he was still holding the dice tightly in his hand, Lilly began to open his fingers with much effort but to no avail; his grip was too strong. It was only when she groaned in annoyance that he realized what he was doing and gave her the dice willingly. She gave him a playful smile, assuring him she took it as a joke, rolled the dice and moved her ship token ten steps. She sighed in relief when she landed on a spot she already owned. She glanced up at Oliver and smirked again. "Don't pout, Oliver, it doesn't suit you. If you roll doubles you're out of jail."

She held her hand out to him, the dice again held in her fist and Oliver reached out and she dropped them in his palm. "Gee, what are the odds," he mused dejectedly.

Just when he was about to toss the dice to the board and take his turn, Lilly reached over again and held his hand in hers. "Wait," she said. He looked up at her, confused. "Let me see." She was still smiling. She pulled his hand closer to her face and he uncurled his fingers and unveiled the dice. She came even closer, her eyes focused on the two red cubes in his hand. He wasn't sure what she was doing, what would be so interesting in a pair of dice that didn't she notice before and had to take a closer look?

It wasn't a case on interest, he realized quickly. Lilly closed her eyes and blew softly on the dice. Hot air tickled his skin and a shiver went up his spine. "Good luck," she wished him and leaned back into her seat.

"T-thanks," Oliver stuttered and without even rolling them in his hand, he dropped the dice limply onto the game board and blinked at what they showed. 1-1.

Oliver, astonished, looked up at Lilly. They both shared a wide grin. "You're amazing!" he called happily and she laughed.

"Okay! Game over!" Owen declared and stood up abruptly, causing both Oliver and Lilly to look up at him in confusion. He threw all of his money and cards on the board, evidently ending the game. While stomping up the stairs, they could still hear him mutter, "Argh, you two need to get a r –"

"Owen!" Oliver cut him off with warn in his tone, but another blush filled his cheeks, as well as Lilly's.

–––

The next morning, Oliver's sleep was disrupted by a buzz coming from his nightstand. He rolled on his stomach, reached out and began to fumble around in the dark for the snooze button of his alarm clock. He never found it. Instead, his fingers wrapped around a small, vibrating object and Oliver raised his head and looked at it sleepily, realizing he was holding his phone. He yawned as he quickly took in his surroundings, remembering exactly where he was.

The vibrations in his hand made him look at the screen. When he saw who was calling him, he threw his head back with a moan of defeat. The name _Miley_ was flashing at him. For a moment, he contemplated ignoring it, but he knew that if he would not pick up now, he will regret it later because she would keep calling until he does.

He pressed on the _Send_ button and held the phone to his ear while he buried himself underneath his blanket once more. "Hello?" he answered in a rusty voice.

"Hey, Oliver!" Miley's southern accent voice boomed excitedly in his ear and he squeezed his eyes tight. He thought that calling him from abroad will make her sound somewhat distant, but she sounded like she was calling from the next room.

"Miley, it's six in the morning," he complained.

"Oh, sorry," she said, although the tone of her voice didn't make her sound like she meant it. "I forgot. It's like three in the afternoon here. We're in Paris."

"Good for you," he said shortly. "Is that why you called? To tell me where you are? No offense, but I think I'm going to hang up now..."

"Wait, Oliver!" she called right before he pressed on the _End_ button. He wished he had, though, but still waited for her to talk. When neither of them said something for a short moment, he wondered if the called had ended by mistake, but then Miley's voice awkwardly said, "You still there?"

"Yeah... What do you want?" he growled.

"Well, I was going to be polite and ask how you doing –"

"MILEY!" he barked, stopping her mid-sentence.

"Right, right," she said hurriedly. "I was just wondering if you did it."

He sighed, realizing he would not go back to sleep anytime soon. Still half asleep, he blinked once in confusion, not quite following her. "Did what?"

"You know, with Lilly..." she said, her words lingering.

His eyes snapped wide open in horror at what he thought she just implied. "MILEY!" he yelled at the phone again, horrified that she would even suggest such a thing.

There was a moment of silence from the other end and then some muttering that sounded much like "Sweet niblets" and Miley's voice scolded at him suddenly, "Not that, you perv! I was talking about if you told Lilly how you feel about her, yet?"

"Oh," Oliver said stupidly and wiped the sweat that collected on his forehead. "Umm..."

"You didn't," she said, completing his unsaid words. "What exactly are you waiting for?"

"It's harder than you think!" he excused.

"Oliver, the longer you wait, the harder it will be. You need to make up your mind. Is being with Lilly what you really want?"

"Of course it is –"

"Then what's the problem? Do you want me to tell her?"

"No! I'll do it. I can do it," he said. He was trying to convince more himself rather than her.

"You better, because if you won't, then I'm telling her everything! You better not chicken out again!"

He groaned in annoyance. "Fine! I got it! Now stop checking up on me. Don't you have a concert to get to or something?"

She chuckled once. "In three in the afternoon? Please, I just had my breakfast. I am about to head out to rehearsals, though."

"I hate you and you celebrity life."

It annoyed him even more that he could sense her smile, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. He hated that. "Love you too. Toodles!"

She hung up and he stared blankly at the phone, thinking about what she said and realized she was right.

_Time to do the deed. Doomsday is here._

–––

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/****N:** Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Sorry I'm posting this so late, I forgot that I didn't post it, so here it is. Don't forget to review after reading ;)

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 7:**

Lilly's signature knock hit his bedroom door about three hours later. Three soft knocks, just like she had done last night, just like she always did in the past whenever she was about to enter his room.

He was already up. After he talked to Miley earlier, he had trouble going back to sleep. He spent the time rolling in his bed, thinking of possible ways to confess his feelings to Lilly.

And now, he was in the middle of dressing up, just when she knocked. He lifted his clean shirt from where he placed it on the bed, and fumbled for the sleeves holes. His back was to the door. He turned his head around when he heard the door slightly open, again she did that without gaining his permission to enter, and saw her poke her head inside.

"Rise and shine, sleepy–" she began, but when she saw the bed was already made and that Oliver was not sleeping in it but standing by it instead, with his upper body bare, she froze. "Oh, sorry!" she said in surprise when her eyes landed on him. Her cheeks suddenly colored with a light shade of pink.

He smirked and pulled his shirt over his head, then turned to face her. "That's okay, Lills. Come in."

She hesitated, but saw he was now fully dressed so she did. "I didn't know I'd be interrupting –"

He chuckled. "No worries. You're lucky I'm a guy. A girl will have a fit if a guy walked in on her changing," he said, gaining a smile from her in response.

"That's true," she said. "I'm surprised you're even up. I thought you'd still be asleep."

Oliver gathered his dirty laundry and threw it in the laundry basket in the bathroom, and he and Lilly made their way downstairs. He let out a loud yawn. "I thought so too, but then I woke up at six and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Six?" she asked in surprise. "What, did aliens knock on your window and asked you for directions back home?" she joked and he couldn't help but smile.

They sat down at the breakfast table. Only Owen was sitting there, eating while reading a comic book. The door to the cabin was open and Oliver could hear the three parents sitting on the porch and talking. The strong aroma of their coffee drinks entered the kitchen through the open door together with the cool morning breeze.

As he poured himself a cup of coffee, desperately needing caffeine to stay alert, he sighed. He poured Lilly a cup as well. "Close. Miley called me," he muttered, hiding his lips behind the rims of his cup while taking a whiff and enjoying the fresh smell of his hot beverage.

Lilly made a face at what he said, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Miley? What did she want?"

Oliver sipped on his drink and savored the instant effect of wakefulness that it awarded him. He shrugged, feeling his cheeks getting warm, and he wasn't sure if it was the coffee or the fact that he was trying to avoid that conversation that made that effect. He cleared his throat. "Basically annoy me," he said. He didn't want to tell Lilly the real reason behind Miley's call. He may have decided that he will profess his feelings for her today, but right now was not the time, especially now when they had audience.

His answer obviously didn't satisfy Lilly, for she kept asking questions. "Why at six, though?"

He shrugged. "It was noon over there," he said simply.

Lilly reached over the table and grabbed a cookie and dunked it in her coffee. She was silent for a moment, but Oliver saw her thinking about it. He knew she wanted to know more, and surely enough she looked up and said, "Did she ask about me?"

Oliver shook his head. "I wasn't really in conversation mood, so I kinda made her hang up quickly."

"Still, it's weird she called you and didn't call me."

Oliver sighed again, noticing the hurt in Lilly's voice. Trying to make things better, he said, "Are you honestly complaining that she didn't wake you up at six in the morning? You should be thankful, Lilly. The sun wasn't even up yet." When that didn't work and Lilly still looked gloom, he added, "Besides, you talked to her yesterday."

"Yeah, for like five minutes," she said and took a bite off her cookie.

Oliver reached out and rubbed his hand softly on her forearm. "If it makes you feel better, we talked less than that. I'm sure she'll call you later. She said she has rehearsals today, maybe she'll call you after."

"Yeah, maybe," Lilly said softly, looking blankly into her cup of coffee.

"What rehearsals?" Owen suddenly asked, looking up from his comic book.

Oliver paled and Lilly shot him an annoyed look. He was so caught up in their conversation that he forgot what he was saying and that his brother was listening. "Umm... Miley has... a... piano recital."

Owen looked doubtfully at Oliver. "I thought she was going to Europe for a vacation."

"Uhh..." Oliver looked at Lilly for some help. She rolled her eyes.

"No. _I_ was supposed to go to Europe for a vacation while she had her recitals," Lilly explained. She finished her coffee in one large gulp and got up to rinse her dirty cup in the sink.

Oliver sighed in relief at the save and thanked his lucky stars that Lilly was a quick thinker and not as dumb as him.

He watched her carefully, her back was facing him, and he couldn't see her face, but for the last fourteen years he had managed to learn her body language pretty well so he easily noticed her tensed shoulders and rigid movements, and knew she was still bothered. How could he make her forget and move on?

He leaned back in his chair and watched her. "Lilly, you guys talk all the time. It's only been two days. She'll call you later."

She shrugged one shoulder. "I don't care," she said stiffly.

"Riiight..." Oliver said slowly. He smirked, knowing it will only trigger her nerves.

Her body tensed up even more and she huffed just as he expected her to do. She turned the water off and shook any droplets of water off her hands in the sink before drying them in a towel. "Oliver, shut up," she said between clenched teeth.

She turned on her heel and walked off to her room. Acting fast, before he knew she will lock herself in there for a while, Oliver shot up from his chair and ran after her, calling her name. "Lilly, wait. We said we'd do something together today. Forget Miley, forget Europe for a second. You're here, right? Let's make the most of it, let's go out."

She looked into his eyes, as if contemplating what he said.

"Come on," he pleaded. "I know just the right place we could go."

She raised one questioning eyebrow. "If it's involves a pair of wobbly bikes –"

Oliver laughed. "No, it's a simple hike, no more than an hour. Just make sure you put on a swimsuit and your pair of Converse and you're all set. I'll take care of the rest."

The skeptical look she gave him never left her face. "I don't know, Oliver. The last time we went for a swim, you tried to drown me."

"No, I didn't," he protested, going on all over again about how he honestly thought she was Miley.

"Well, I'm not in a mood to go swim in the lake again."

"We're not going to the lake."

"Fine," she said and sighed, giving in. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Oliver smiled brightly, his happiness that he actually managed to convince her was showing all over his face. "Great!"

He watched as she proceeded to her room and shut the door behind her. Once she was out of sight, Oliver went up to his own room to change into his swim trunks and fetch a backpack. He stuffed it with two towels, a blanket, and sunscreen lotion, and also managed to prepare two peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and also threw in two cans of diet soda.

"Where are you going?" Owen asked, still seated in the kitchen table with his comic book, his eyes were following Oliver around the room.

"To the Lightveil Cave," Oliver replied distractedly, looking around the room, tapping his chin while trying to think if he had forgotten anything else.

"Oh, cool! Can I come too?" Owen asked excitedly.

Oliver was caught off guard by his young brother. He did expect him to ask that. He turned to look at him. "No," he said strictly.

Owen pouted at the refusal and muttered something incoherent under his breath, but Oliver ignored him.

Lilly emerged out of her room a minute later, dressed in a long, white, sheer beach shirt that almost completely covered her khaki shorts, and she also wore her red Converse shoes, just as she was told. Oliver could clearly see the top part of her green bikini underneath her shirt.

"Is this okay?" she asked, turning around in a circle and looking concerned. "I didn't know exactly what to wear –"

"It's perfect, uh, I mean, good," Oliver corrected quickly.

She smiled coyly. "Great, so can we go now?"

"Yes, please," Owen answered before Oliver could, a bitter note in his voice. "I can't watch Oliver drooling all over the floor anymore." Oliver turned to shoot a menacing glance at his brother.

Lilly laughed nervously and Oliver's cheeks turned pink, whether from fuming at his brother or from embarrassment, he wasn't quite sure.

"Ignore that rat in the corner," Oliver said as he ushered Lilly out. "I don't know why my parents insist that we're related. He only said that because I told him can't come with us."

"Well, why can't he?" Lilly asked innocently, stopping in place.

"Uh..." Oliver said, browsing for a quick excuse. "Because this is about you; you need to have fun. I already made plans and babysitting him was not on the list. After all, I did promise Miley I will show you good time."

"Still, it's a bit harsh, Oliver."

"Lilly, he's a big boy. My parents will make sure he's not bored, believe me."

She seemed convinced and he was glad she let it go. The last thing he needed was his brother towing after them and interrupting his plans.

They said goodbye to their parents as they crossed the porch and Lilly followed Oliver into the woods.

They walked down a narrow path up the hills, losing sight of the lake. The trail was enclosed by the growing crowdedness of the trees. It was shadowed, but glimpses of the sunlight broke here and there through the branches. "Where are we going exactly? You never said," she asked.

He smiled. "Well, it's a surprise."

She nudged his side. "You're so mean! You know I hate surprises!"

"Liar! You love surprises!" he countered.

"I do not! Sure, I love getting things, who isn't? But you should know by now that if you got a surprise for me, you shouldn't say anything; because if you do, then it makes me curious and I hate not knowing things."

"But it's not fair," he said.

"Why?"

"Because you know I love tormenting you," he joked.

She nudged his side again and he laughed.

After an hour of walking through the trees, Lilly began to hear the distant sounds of unmistakably what seemed to be a flow of water. She couldn't see anything around her besides woods and undergrowth, so the source for the current of water remained a mystery.

"Oliver, you said we're not going to the lake," she accused.

"We're not."

"Then what is the –" And before she could complete her question, they stepped out of the woods. Accustomed to the shadows, she squeezed her eyes as the light suddenly hit her face. It took several blinks before she saw the scenery before her eyes.

She was standing in a field of greenery, a small meadow patched on a cliff, overlooking the lake. All this time they were walking and she never noticed they were climbing up. She could see everything: the encircling mountain tops, the shimmering water of the lake below and the houses and cabins that sat on the banks.

Oliver walked over and stood by her side. He extended his arm and pointed down to a specific place near the lake. "This is where we started," he said and she noted the Okens' cabin.

"This is amazing," she admired, turning around and taking it all in. She could not ignore the sounds of a stream nearby. She decided to search for it, running over to the other side of the cliff and rounding a large wall of boulders. Oliver followed her. She stopped right at the edge of the cliff and observed what she found. From a higher point in the mountain above them, a stream of water gushed out. The current fell down and went through a large hole in the ground below. They stood right above it and Lilly leaned over and saw it was leading into a pool inside a shadowy cave.

She looked back up at the waterfall before her, the water streaming forcefully, looking almost white.

As if reading her thoughts, Oliver said, "It's called the Lightveil Cave. Well, not really. Owen and I named it like that. You can probably see why. I actually have no idea what its real name is."

"It suites," she said, noticing how the water formed a shape and color just like a bride's veil as they flowed down. She turned to look at him and grinned brightly. "Thank you for bringing me here."

He smiled back. _Anything for you._

–––

**A/N:** If you wonder, the scenery is made up. I've never been to Lake Tahoe before, so if you have, then you probably know there's no such place there. And if there is, then it's not something I was aware of...

This is more like a filler chapter. I intended on going on, but I'll leave the rest for the next one, because there will be much more going on. If I get reviews, I will post it quickly. If I won't, then the update will have to wait... I hope you enjoyed, if you did, please review and tell me your thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** This is for all my new beloved readers. Thanks for all the reviews! Here is the new chapter. Don't forget to leave a review on it, too ;)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 8:**

Oliver looked crookedly at the object in Lilly's hands. A book; she'd brought a book. Not just a book, a romance novel called _The Frozen Rose_. By the thickness of it, it looked like it held at least 300 pages and she wasn't even close to the middle of it. Oliver shot daggers at the black and white cover and wished that book never existed. That book was now his mortal enemy; it had declared war the minute it popped out. Oliver never saw it coming, he never noticed Lilly had taken it with her, and how could he? He wasn't looking at her hands; her hands were the last thing he'd look at when she was dressed in a see-through blouse and a green bikini top underneath.

They were both lying on the ground in the open meadow, close to the edge of the cliff above the cave, and sprawled on the blanket Oliver had brought along. The sun was high in the sky and a warm breeze blew every now and then. Lilly was using Oliver's backpack as a pillow while she read her precious novel and Oliver was laying beside her on his side, looking at her impatiently, his head propped on one hand.

He was getting tired of this. Bored out of his mind, he sighed. "Lilly."

She didn't take her eyes off the clean white pages. She simply hummed back as though telling him she had acknowledged he had called her name, but yet she wasn't listening.

"Lills." Nothing. "Lilly. Lilli_aaannn_?"

"What?" she asked, annoyed. He knew her full name will finally make her avert her eyes away from the book and shoot a fleeting look his way.

"Stop it, I'm bored."

"Well, so am I. That's why I brought this book."

"Well, forget it for a second. I've got something on my mind that I wanted to tell you."

"Okay, but let me at least finish this chapter first. I've got..." she said, skimming through the book, "three more pages and then you can tell me whatever."

Oliver rolled his eyes. No more of it, he decided. He seized the book from her hands, and threw it back over the cliff. A distinct splashsound could be heard as it unmistakably hit the water below.

The mixed expression of shock and anger on Lilly's face made him slightly think he had made a mistake, but he didn't mind. It was just a silly book, and he didn't care for it. He wanted her full attention when he confessed his feelings to her.

"OLIVER!" she called, outraged.

"Lilly, forget the stupid book –"

She got up and ran to the edge of the cliff, as if still hoping the book will be there, undamaged. When she saw it was gone, she turned on her heal and charged at him, her face red and fuming.

She swatted his shoulder with the much force she had and Oliver let her blow off some steam and didn't cower away even though she _was_ hurting him. He had already figured out a few days ago how much stronger she had become. "How could you –"

"I'll get you another copy –"

"Tyler was just about to kiss Rose!"

Oliver rolled his eyes again. "Big whoop..."

"Who does that, anyway? Who throws someone else's book off a cliff?"

He straightened up into a sitting position. "Me," he pointed at his chest. "This guy, who is trying to get your attention for a few minutes now."

"If you had just patiently waited, or... or, asked politely..."

"I did, you blew me off!"

She pouted and then sighed. "Fine," she said with a huff and sat down next to him, Indian style. He watched her frown and she rolled her eyes when he just stared and didn't say anything for a long moment. "Well, go on, talk," she urged impatiently.

He shook his head. "Not while you're mad at me."

"Oliver, you just threw away my book because you wanted to say something, so you better say it, because if you don't then I'm never speaking to you again."

He sighed. "Lilly, I can't say it while you're like this."

"Well, what do you want, then?" she asked, annoyed.

"Take a deep breath, calm down and tell me you're not mad at me."

She waited for a moment, processing his request slowly. Then, she inhaled deeply and slowly blew out the air. She closed her eyes and tried to think of anything else but how he annoyed her. Finally, when she calmed down, she opened her eyes and turned to his backpack and started rummaging through it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She pulled out the sunscreen cream and thrust the bottle into his hands.

He looked down at it, confused, not sure what she wanted him to do with it.

When he looked up at her again, he saw she had pulled her shirt off and turned her back to him. She was now clad only in her khaki shorts and green bikini top. "You want me to calm down? Then rub my back."

He gulped. He didn't know why he was nervous. It wasn't the first time she had asked him to put lotion on her back and touch her skin. Maybe it was the situation that made him feel shy all over the sudden. "I – uh..."

She gathered her long blonde hair with a band into a loose bun at the top of her head. "It'll sooth me."

He nodded and poured a small amount of the thick white lotion into his hands and started rubbing it into her shoulders. Sure enough, he felt her relax quickly.

"You know you can say what you had on your mind now," she added. Her head was bowed forward and Oliver was enjoying every second he could. Touching her skin felt wonderful. He never paid attention for it when he had done it before. Then again, before, she was his best friend Lilly, now she was his ultimate secret crush. He smirked to himself, planning on touching her as much as he could and knowing that it will take great effort to stop.

"Okay," he said weakly, trying to concentrate on his plan rather than the glorious feeling of her skin underneath his palms. He wasn't sure how to begin. Whenever he had practiced this speech in his head, it seemed so easy, it just flowed out freely. Now, he felt as though his tongue had been stung by a bee and it slowly swelled inside his mouth.

He cleared his throat and went for it. "Well, I –" he began, but was rudely cut by the familiar sound of the ringtone of Lilly's phone.

"What?" she asked, obviously surprised. She fished her phone out of the back pocket of her shorts and studied the screen. "It's Miley!" she exclaimed excitedly and Oliver sighed. "I didn't even realize there will be any signal here," she said before she flipped the lid open and pressed it to her ear.

"Me neither," Oliver muttered in dejection. Lilly didn't seem to hear it. "I told you she'd call," he said louder and she turned and smiled in confirmation.

"Miley, hey!" she said into the phone. "Wait, let me put you on speaker so Oliver could hear you." She pressed a button and Oliver could clearly hear static sounds. "Okay, all set. Sorry if you can't hear very well, reception isn't that good in here. Say hi to Oliver."

"Hey, Oliver. Sorry about earlier," Miley said apologetically.

Oliver gave half a smile at the phone held in Lilly's hands. He found it hard to hide his annoyance at the interruption. He leaned around Lilly while his hands were still rubbing her shoulders a bit more aggressively, hoping Lilly will get the message and hang up, but all she did was let out a soft moan of pleasure. Apparently, the pressure he had put on her shoulders was satisfying her and she began to enjoy it. "That's okay. Are you done with rehearsals?" he asked Miley.

Miley sighed. "Yep. Tomorrow is the big concert. How you guys doing?"

He noted the suggestive tone in her voice and rolled his eyes, hoping Lilly didn't catch that. Seeing Lilly's eyes were closed as he continued to massage her, he pressed even harder on the muscles between her shoulders and neck.

Lilly's eyes snapped open. "Ouch! Oliver, not so hard!" she yelled, cowering away from his touch.

"Sorry," he apologized but kept rubbing just as hard.

"What are you guys doing?" Miley asked, obviously intrigued.

Lilly tried to escape Oliver's hands, but he held her by the shoulders and kept her in place. "Nothing. Oliver is being an aggressive idiot. He even threw Tyler and Rose off a cliff!" Lilly said dramatically.

"Uh, do I want to know?" Miley asked, the tone of her voice suggesting she was not quite following what was actually going on.

Seeing that pressing hard on her shoulders wasn't doing any good, Oliver's next move to distract Lilly and hopefully make her hang up the phone was to smear dots of sunscreen onto the sides of her stomach, where he knew she was ticklish.

Lilly let out a giggle at his sudden touch and flinched, but hasn't had much luck escaping him completely. She let out another small laugh. "Lilly, is everything alright?" Miley asked, now sounding concerned. Well, maybe the reception wasn't that bad after all, if she managed to catch that.

"Yes," Lilly said with her bottom lip stuck between through gritted teeth, trying her best not to laugh again. Oliver smirked, his tongue held between his teeth as he caressed Lilly's stomach once more. "Everything's finnnne – hold on a sec," she said and then put her hand over the phone where the microphone was. She turned around, angry as ever. "Oliver! _Stop_ it!" she rebuked.

He quickly erased the goofy smile off his lips, putting on a straight face. Simply looking innocent, he held his hands up as though he didn't do anything, but when she turned back, the grin was plastered on his lips again and he let out a low chuckle.

"Are you two okay?" Miley asked again.

Lilly sighed into the phone. "Yes," she told Miley, and then added over her shoulder to Oliver, "Don't worry, you'll get what you deserve."

With a loud sigh of relief, he took off his shirt in one quick movement and threw it aside. "Finally! Now it's my turn, do me!" he said, opening the cap of the sunscreen cream and pouring into her hand a heavy load of it.

Shocked at his actions, Lilly's mouth held agape. She stood up abruptly, her phone falling off her clean hand into the thick grass, and she stared at the small pool of white liquid in her hand. "Oliver!" she screamed. "You _did_ _not_ just spill that white gunk all over my hands!"

"W-what?!" Miley's bewildered voice called from the ground, where the phone had landed.

Oliver sniggered and mimicked Lilly's earlier sitting position. Now his back was facing Lilly and he waited for her to rub his back with lotion.

Lilly bent over and picked up her phone with her clean hand. "Oh, Miley, I'll talk to you later, we're kind of in the middle of..." she paused, giving another dazed look at her lotion-filled hand, "...something," she ended and reluctantly shut off her phone, ignoring Miley's protests for more information.

"Now, you know, from Miley's point of view of this scene, this whole situation will seem a little... perverted," Oliver joked, guessing what were Miley's exact thoughts at the moment. She tended to make inaccurate assumptions like that sometimes.

Lilly ignored his comment. She was turning red again, and once again she threw herself at him. With his back to her, he didn't realize she was about to strike. "I'll kill you!" she yelled and slapped her hand hard to his back, making a loud splatter sound. Lotion drops flew everywhere, and Oliver let out his signature girly scream.

"Oww!" he called in a high pitched voice.

"Serves you right!" she said and grabbed his shoulders and squeezed as hard as she could.

"Oww! Lilly! I didn't hurt you that bad!" he complained.

She began to rub the lotion into his shoulders and back with as much force as she could and Oliver was not enjoying it at all. He regretted treating her the same way, now that he was experiencing it firsthand.

She wrapped her hands around his neck gently and began to rock his body back and forth. "Sometimes you drive me so mad that I feel like I can choke you!"

Fearing she will actually hurt him, Oliver made a move to escape, but she was quicker and held his shoulders tight and pushed him back down.

"Wait, Oliver, don't move. There's something on your neck," she said, her voice suddenly turning soft and curious.

"Well, get it off."

He felt her push up the short hairs that covered his nape while she examined it. Then he heard her gasp and his brows knitted together.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Is that...?" she began and he felt her finger lightly touch his skin. Then he realized what she saw.

"What?" he asked, suddenly in panic, his eyes widening. He stood up abruptly and turned his back away from her, slowly taking a few steps back.

She stood up slowly, her face full of interest. "Oliver, what you got there?"

"Nothing," he answered automatically, maybe a little too quickly, the lie was obvious in his voice. He was amazed he didn't hiccup this time. "I don't have anything."

"I could swear I saw something. It looked like a scar, but..." she said, taking slow steps towards him while he took the same steps back away from her, keeping a wide distance between them.

"You're wrong," he contradicted, shaking his head side to side. "No scar."

She smiled faintly, knowing he was hiding something. "Come on, Oliver, let me see what it is."

One, two, three more steps back. Oliver was determined she will keep away. If she moved forward, he moved back. He never noticed, though, how near he had gotten to the edge of the cliff.

"I'm sure there was something there... It looked like some sort of lettering..." Then her eyes snapped wide open and there was unmistakably spark in them. "Oh, no you didn't! _You got a tattoo?!_" she yelled and she ran to him, while he ran away from her.

"What? No way! You just imagined it!" he denied, breathing hard from the effort of escaping her.

"Then why are you running?"

"Because a crazy blonde is seeing things and chasing after me, that's why."

She slowed and walked closer to him. "Come on, Oliver, let me see it!"

"No!" he said and took another step backwards, but to his surprise, his legs met empty air and he stumbled back. He leaned forward, desperately trying to keep his balance, flinging his hands wildly in front of him in circles, but it was no good.

"Oliver!" Lilly called in panic, seeing him begin to fall. She bolted to him and managed to grab his hands, but it was too late, he was falling, and he was pulling her with him. "_Eeeeep!_"

The fall didn't seem to take long. They landed into the freezing pool in the underground cave, which from the inside didn't seem to be as dark as it looked from the outside, and they quickly surfaced back up, gasping for air. "Oliver!" she screeched at him, quickly wrapping her hands around herself while feeling the coldness of the water seeping through her.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, breathing hard from exhaustion. The humid air in the cave did not help with that, either. "You didn't hit your head or something, did you?" he asked, reaching out to her head, but she slapped his hand away.

"No, but _you're_ about to get hit in the head!" she said and began for the third time that day to hit him. He screamed again, desperately trying to avoid her blows. "Come here!"

"Lilly, you're mental, do you know that?" he called, shielding his head with his hands from her slaps.

_Swat._ "And you're an ass! Did you have to pull me with you?" _Hit._

"You gave me your hand!" he excused.

_Smack._ "You could've let go! Now I'm all wet and cold!"

"Okay, I get it! Just stop hitting me!" he pleaded. "You know I bruise easily."

She stopped and crossed her hands over her chest, trying to regain her breath. "Of course, you big baby."

Then he averted his gaze at her, a mischievous gleam shining in his eyes, telling her she was in for trouble. "Oh, you did not just go there..." he muttered and he turned around and jumped at her.

Now, the tables were turned. She let out a shriek mixed with laughter and began to break her way heavily through the water and into the nearest bank. He was quicker, though, and had longer arms. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him, but their legs tangled together and they slipped on the smooth rock surface beneath their feet and fell back into the shallow water.

Once they resurfaced again, Oliver eyed her playfully before he began to splash water at her. She didn't hesitate and fought back, flinging her arms on the water and aiming at him and getting him as much wet as he was getting her.

Laughing with all their might, Oliver tried to make his way to her while still large splatters of water hit his eyes, making it hard for him to see. Reaching out blindly, he managed to grab her again in a tight embrace and locked her hands behind her back. He was smiling and breathing deeply, also trying to catch his breath back. Their eyes locked together, but he couldn't call it a deep stare, because she threw her head back and began laughing hysterically.

He chuckled, loving hearing her voice full of so much happiness. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, shrugging. She looked back into his eyes and he was relieved she didn't look away again. He had enough time to study her two blue depths and how long her lashes were, or note how the smile was evident in her eyes. He just loved seeing her this way, and hoped he could get as many chances as he could to look at her the same way more than this one time. "I really want to hug you right now," she suddenly blurted and his eyes widened again in surprise.

Remembering he was still holding her hands firmly behind her back, he let her go slowly and she smiled kindly. She reached out and wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her body close to his. He could feel the wet top of her swimsuit sticking to his chest and slowly he realized how close they suddenly became, and he couldn't help but wrap his hands around her back in return. Enjoying this heavenly feeling of her being held in his arms, he closed his eyes and wished this moment will last forever.

Ever so gently, he felt her hands move down to his shoulders and she slowly pulled away. He was beginning to feel that tension between them again. He felt it every time they grew this close. He was sure this was the right moment to act, but before he could lower his lips to hers, he was forcefully turned around and the hair at the nape of his neck was held up again. He heard her let out a loud cackle of victory. "Ha-ha!"

Assisting the streaming light from the hole in the cave's ceiling, she traced her fingers on his skin again, repeating the faded lines of the white ink that decorated his skin, and he couldn't help the shiver that went up his spine at her light touch. "El, Oh, El..." she read slowly, her voice a whisper. Then it filled with misunderstanding when she finished reading. "Wait... _Lola_?"

Oliver hung his head low, slightly ashamed his secret was revealed.

"Why is ther...?" she began to ask, but was obviously too stunned to complete the question.

He shook her hands off his shoulders and turned around to face her, one hand ruffling his hair to cover back his neck; it was one of the reasons why he kept it so long. If his mother ever found out he had gotten a tattoo at the age of 17 without her permission, she will ground him for life. At her deep stare, Oliver felt his cheeks warm up.

"Why would you –" she tried again, but he cut her off.

"It's not _Lola_. It's simply L-O-L-A," he spelled. He turned and finally made his way to the bank. He climbed up and turned to help Lilly.

She accepted his help and once they stood on solid ground, she cocked her head to the side, like a puppy searching for answers. "But what does it mean?"

"Nothing," he said shortly and started walking through the cave. "Come on. There's a way out right through here, we can climb back up to the cliff." Lilly followed, grabbing his hand at the dark parts of the cave. The water began to shallow as they neared the exit, until finally the pool had turned into a creek.

Then, out of the blue, Lilly began to chuckle hollowly, her voice echoed around the cave several times and it startled Oliver. Oliver cast a questioning gaze at her over his shoulder. "You got a drunken tattoo, didn't you?" she laughed. "You don't even know what it means. It was probably supposed to be some cliché like _Love_ or something."

Oliver looked at her through squinted eyes. "No, it's not. It does mean something."

"Okay, what then?" she asked again, challenging him.

"I'm not telling you," he huffed and let go of her hand. They finally reached the cave's exit. Lilly could smell fresh air again and see the bright sun in the skies. She followed him as he began to climb up a grassy hill.

She chuckled once more. "Fine. Here's another point why you are a baby," she teased.

He shot her another one of his menacing glances and she began to run back to the meadow. This time she made it before Oliver could grab her again. Truthfully, he was giving her a head start. He was beginning to enjoy these Cat and Mouse chases they started.

"What did you call me?" he called, feigning rage again. If there was one thing that could trigger him, was making fun of his manhood. She kept running back up the hill to where they left their belongings while Oliver walked slowly.

"Baby, baby, baby..." she chanted mockingly.

"You better run, Truscott," he warned and suddenly he burst into a sprint run towards her.

She laughed. "You'll never catch me!"

The adrenaline rush he was experiencing at the moment was overflowing, so much that he couldn't stop it. He was running so fast that he caught up to her, managed to grab her again and pull her to the ground. They laughed as they rolled together several times until they finally stopped. They soon realized that they found themselves in quite a compromising position, with Oliver on top of Lilly.

They exchanged the same intense stare again, their heavy breathes mingled together as their heads grew close. Oliver gulped hard when he saw this amazing opportunity he had been given once again.

To his great disappointment, a loud catcall whistle was aimed at them not too far away.

Oliver looked up and sighed. _Here comes trouble._

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**A/N:** A cliffhanger? No way! Haha, I'm evil. ;) Liked? Review! Please? Pretty please? With cherry on top? :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews! Here's another update. I hope you enjoy this one. Don't forget to review it as well and tell me what you think! Thank you :)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 9:**

Oliver looked up and sighed. This was clearly not his day. Someone up there was enjoying tormenting him greatly. There was no way that for the past two hours he had so many opportunities to tell Lilly his secret and each time there has been some sort of interruption.

This time, the interruption was in the shape and form of two teenage boys. They were standing close to Oliver and Lilly's belongings and were shooting the both of them amused looks. One boy was tall and skinny, and had wavy, sandy-blond hair, while the other was at least a foot shorter than him, but had a well-built body and black hair that was collected into a short ponytail. By their sporty apparel and backpacks, it looked like they had been hiking.

"Is that Oken?" the short one asked.

"No way. We haven't seen him in years," the other replied.

"I'm telling you, that's him!"

Lilly, who turned to look the same way, turned back and looked up at Oliver questioningly. They were still lying in the same position, with Oliver on top of her and his hands on either side of her face.

"Friends of yours?" Lilly asked with an arched eyebrow.

Oliver looked down at her. "Not really," he said, and slowly shifted and pulled away from her and got up on two feet. The two stranger boys began shouting his name and called him over. He tried his best not to look at them directly. He offered his hand to Lilly to help pull her up, but she made a face, swatted his hand away and stood up without his help.

The two boys, obviously curious, had begun to babble about a bet whether if Oliver was Oliver or not. They strode over as they chatted loudly, while Oliver and Lilly brushed their wet clothes off the grass that stuck to them.

"It _is_ him! I told you!" Shorty said to his friend.

Oliver's face flushed with awkwardness. He never expected to meet these guys again. He definitely did not expect to see them right before he was about to kiss Lilly (again). He ran a hand on the back of his neck and flashed them a shy smile. "Hey guys."

"Oken!" they called in unison. Before Oliver knew what was happening, they each had pulled him close and gave him a one-side hug and a soft punch to the shoulder.

"How are you, man?" Blondie asked.

"Dude, we haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been?" Shorty added.

Oliver kept his uncomfortable posture, secretly wishing they will notice it and realize they are interrupting something. "Uhh... Yeah, you know, it's up to the folks."

Shorty smiled. "It's great to see you, man. Sorry for interrupting. We were just passing by and then we saw you."

Blondie looked behind Oliver and raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, who is your girlfriend? Care to introduce us?"

Oliver paled, his eyes widening. He looked back and noticed Lilly standing there, watching the three of them talk while keeping quiet. She looked even more uncomfortable than he was, probably because she didn't know the two strangers Oliver talked to.

"Oh. Right. This is –"

"Lilly," she suddenly said and put on a wide smile on her face. She approached them in two quick strides and extended her hand to them, taking theirs and shaking each in turn. "Best friend, not girlfriend. Nice to meet you."

Oliver's heart sank at her correction. All he thought of was _'not yet'._

"Hello, Lilly," Blondie said. He held a mischievous grin that Oliver didn't like. "I'm Logan and this is Sam," he gestured to his shorter friend, who wiggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled.

"How long have you two known Oliver?" Lilly asked Logan, putting her hands on her hips. "Funny that he never mentioned you." She gave Oliver a fleeting glare, but Oliver ignored it.

"Oh, we go way back; ever since we were kids, met here almost every summer. But you know what's really funny? That he never told us he had such a beautiful friend as yourself."

Lilly giggled again and her cheeks flushed. Oliver gritted his teeth in annoyance, holding back from saying anything, or from punching Logan's face.

"He did tell us about _a_ Lilly," Sam added. "She sounded more like a tomboy, skateboarding and surfing and such. Apparently you are not her."

Both Logan and Sam looked at Lilly up and down, and finally their eyes settled on her wet bikini top, or at least the part it was covering, and it looked as if they were almost drooling all over the floor. Oliver could easily read their thoughts and he didn't like it one bit. It wasn't so hard to guess what they were thinking, since he's a guy, too. He felt the urge to wrap her body around with a sheet and poke them in the eye so they will regret ever looking at her that way. He was offended on Lilly's behalf and found it insulting that they looked at her as though she was something to eat.

Oliver cleared his throat loudly, cutting off their conversation and gaining everyone's attention to himself.

"Yeah, well, it was nice seeing you, guys," he said in a hard voice and casually put his hand around Lilly's shoulder.

"Wait," Sam said. "What are you guys doing tonight?"

Oliver and Lilly both shrugged in response.

"Oh, yeah," Logan said excitedly, catching up on his friend's words. "I have my parents' lake house all to myself, so we thought we'd throw this awesome party. You two should come. Lilly, I would love to see you there," he said with another bright smile and added a flirty wink. Lilly blushed again and Oliver felt another wave of protectiveness hit him once again.

Oliver made a doubtful face. "I dunno..."

"Come on, Oken," Sam coaxed. "We'll have great music, good food, awesome people and the best thing is we got no parent supervision."

"Sounds great," Lilly said eagerly.

Oliver looked at her, astonished. Since when did Lilly like parties that did not include Hannah Montana or Orlando Bloom? "Yeah, maybe we'll drop by; in case we won't have any plans," he said, not wanting to promise anything he couldn't keep.

Logan's smile grew even wider, if it was even possible. "Great. Oliver, you know the way, don't be a stranger. Drinks are on the house. See you."

Logan and Sam nodded and waved them goodbye before they disappeared between the trees. "Bye," Oliver called with a small bit of resentment in his tone.

He meant to turn Lilly around and lead her back to their sitting spot, but Lilly grabbed his hand and removed it from around her shoulder. She gave him a cold stare and marched back and sat on the spread out blanket. She wrapped herself with a dry towel and bent her head forward to dry her hair in it.

Oliver walked over to join her, suddenly feeling a soft breeze hitting his body and remembering he was still wet, as well.

When he reached her, she had already pulled her shirt back on and got on her feet. "Ready to go?" she asked.

Oliver blinked at her in confusion. "Go? What are you talking about? We just got here."

"Well, I've had enough of alone time with you for today," she said callously. She didn't even look him in the eyes as she said it. "If you want to stay, then that's fine. I can find my own way back." She did not wait for his reply, but turned on her heel and walked over to where they had come from earlier.

Oliver, confused from her sudden change in attitude, quickly stuffed all their things into his backpack, threw it over his shoulder and ran over to Lilly. "Lilly, wait!" he called after her. He tried to catch up to her, but she was walking rather fast and he was already tired from their earlier exertion. He finally managed to go past her, and he turned around to face her, walking backwards down the pathway while she walked forward. "What's wrong?"

She did not reply. He noticed the hard look in her eyes and how her jaw was set. She did not stop striding through the woods and managed to go past Oliver again.

"Lilly, come on, wait up. You'll get lost," he called again.

The suddenly she halted and Oliver stopped as well a few steps behind her. She turned so quickly that her long, wet hair swirled around her like a gold aura. Droplets of water flew everywhere; Oliver could feel them hitting his face like small needles.

"Tell me, Oliver. What am I to you?" she asked acidly.

Hearing her shoot that question at him out of the blue like that, made Oliver's brain freeze up, and he felt as if he lost the ability to talk or even breathe. She knew the truth, he was sure of it. Was it how closely they become earlier and almost kissed – several times, at that – or was is the way he acted around those other guys that made her realize it? But why would she be angry about it?

After what seemed to take eternity, but in reality was only a short moment of silence, he managed to make his brain function again. "I, uh... Listen, Lilly –"

"No, _you_ listen, Oliver," she cut him off mid-sentence, and walked over and minimized the gap between them. She poked him hard in the chest, emphasizing the 'You' as she said it. "I may be your best friend, but I'm not your guy-friend! Get it?"

He blinked once in confusion at her, not understanding what she was saying. "What are you talking about?"

"I know Miley is more popular, more attractive and prettier, and even a better dresser than I am; hell, she's freaking Hannah Montana for God's sake! But that does not make her your girl-pal and leave me be your guy-pal!"

It finally dawned on him. Is that was this is all about? "Lilly –"

"Just because I'm athletic and I like sports, it doesn't make me less of a girl –"

"I never said –"

"I may not have a large bra size. I may not wear dresses or heavy makeup and do my hair 24/7, and I may not talk shallowly all day about the hottest guys in school or what the latest sales at the mall are, but that does not make me a tomboy, Oliver Oken! I'm still a girl, despite all that, and you, out of all people, should have realized it by now! But I guess that's what happens when you are friends with someone for so many years, they start taking you for granted."

She did not wait for his response. She turned back around and continued her angry stride along the curvy, earthy trail.

Oliver came to his senses and followed her, again trying to catch up with her, desperate to make her understand. "Lilly, I swear, I never in my life said you were a tomboy." She let out a sarcastic chuckle in response. "You can't seriously be mad at me for something someone else had said. Those guys are jerks! I've known them for a long time and they are completely brainless. I mean, did you see the way they were looking at you?"

"What way?" she yelled, tears now leaking from the corners of her eyes. "Like an actual girl? Finally, someone noticed! And what do you do about it? Act like the usual ass that you are and ruin it for me!"

"Fine, Lilly!" Oliver yelled in return, utterly frustrated. "You wanna be mad at me? Be made at me! But at least have a good reason for it. I'm not going to be sorry for something I didn't do! You're being ridiculous!"

She cast him the most heartbroken look he ever saw on her face. "Ridiculous?" she said in a whisper. "Wow, Oliver. I knew you are dense, but I didn't think you are that dense."

Oliver breathed deeply, letting her blow off some steam and taking it all in. "You're just saying that because you're angry."

"No! I'm saying that because I thought you, as my best friend, will say something like 'No, Lilly, you're wrong. You are pretty and popular and you _are_ a girl,' but instead you tell me I'm ridiculous. Nice one, Oliver. Glad to know I was right, that you actually feel this way."

Oliver sighed. He really messed up this one. "Lilly, that's not what I meant. I know you are a girl, a pretty girl –"

"Shut up, Oliver!" she yelled, not letting him finish his sentence. "You don't have to say it if you don't believe in it. Just because I wanted you to say it, doesn't mean that you should. Just... shut up."

She sniffed loudly and wiped her tears and nose clean with her hand. She took a large breath and slowly let it out. Oliver then noticed they had a clean view of the cabin. It took so much faster going down the hills than climbing them up, or maybe it was because they passed the time arguing all the way back, he wasn't sure.

As they neared the cabin, Oliver noticed his parents were still sitting at the porch, talking. He saw Lilly flash her mum a small smile, and he nodded at the three adults in greeting. Once Lilly passed through the door, Oliver saw her run to her room and shut the door behind her. He meant to get inside and go up to his own room, but a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. It was Lilly's mum.

"Oliver, did you two have fun?" she asked. He noticed the small furrow between her eyebrows and knew she was worried.

He didn't want to say anything out loud. He will blurt out a hiccup for sure if he did. He bit on the inside on his cheek and simply nodded.

"Then why is Lilly's eyes all red? Did she cry?"

"Uh..." Oliver said, thinking it over. He had to give her some answer or else she will know, and obviously Lilly didn't want her to know, or else she wouldn't have smiled and pretended she was fine. He took a large breath and spoke quickly. "She's probably just tired from the hike. I think she went to get some rest. I'm going to rest, too. See you later."

He dashed inside before they could ask him anything else. He went up the stairs, taking two stairs at a time and entered his room. He sat on the bed and stared blankly into space, thinking about the latest events.

He groaned loudly and threw himself back on the floppy mattress. Why did he have to be so stupid? Why couldn't he just say it straight to her face? If they hadn't arrived back yet, he would have grabbed her and yell at her face to shut up and listen to him talking now. He would have made her listen while he rambled about how he found her to be the most beautiful girl in the world, that he doesn't think huge boobs or trashy makeup or a hair-do makes a person beautiful, that he loves her the way she is, plain Lilly. He would have made her realize he loves her sense of humor and how they have so many things in common, like surfing and skateboarding and it's one of the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place, because she's so cool that she can be beautiful, smart, funny and athletic all at once. He would have made her understand that never one in his life he thought of her as a tomboy.

He wished he could have said it. She never gave him the chance and he didn't know if he will ever get another one again.

A faint _beep_ sound interrupted his thoughts. Oliver frowned at the familiar chime. He reached for his backpack that lay neglected on his pillow and started rummaging though it in search for his phone. He found it and looked at the screen: _1 New Voice Message_, it read.

He dialed to his voice mail and listened to the message.

_"Hey, Oliver!" _Miley's recorded voice said merrily._ "I just wanted to finish my conversation with Lilly, but she's not picking up her phone, so I tried yours, but you didn't pick up either, so I hope it's because you're both too busy confessing your undying love for each other, or maybe it's simply because you're out of signal, I don't know, but I sure hope it's the first one. Anyway, I still want the details. Tell Lilly to call me. I left her a message, too. Love ya!" Beeeeep. _

Oliver let out another frustrated moan. He shut off his phone and threw it inside the drawer in his bedside table. He leaned back into the mattress again and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes.

_I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life. _

–––

**A/****N:** What will happen next? Want to find out? Leave a review and I will update ASAP.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** If you felt the story lacked of action, then this is for you. I hope you enjoy, it's longer this time. Please read and review :)

**WARNING: This chapter contains the use of mild swearing, use of physical violence, underage drinking and smoking, and hinting of adult themes. Read at your own discretion.**

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 10:**

That evening, Oliver sat slumped on the couch in the living room, watching Owen skimming through the channels on the TV. Both Oken boys were bored out of their minds. There was nothing good airing and Oliver couldn't believe this is how he was spending the last remaining days of this summer trip.

"Not that," he said with a yawn when Owen flipped to CNN, then to VH-1. "No." On came National Geographic. "No." And then a really bad chick flick movie. "_Hell no!_"

"Oliver! Language!" Nancy yelled from the kitchen.

"Sorry, Mum!" he called out sheepishly across the room.

Owen sniggered at Oliver's sudden red face. Oliver poked his tongue at his younger brother in response. "This sucks..." he muttered under his breath, careful not to say it too loudly for his mother to hear him again.

Lilly hadn't spoken a word to him since they came back from their hike. During lunch, he tried to involve her in a conversation, but she cleverly avoided him without raising their parents' suspicions. After that, she locked herself in her room and hadn't come out since then. Oliver was starting to think she was going to skip dinner now, too.

He hated this situation, knowing she was mad at him. He hated she was not speaking to him or looking his way. Yet, he had nothing to be sorry for. He'd done nothing wrong. He would not take the blame for someone else's slipup.

Then, the door to Lilly's room creaked as it opened. Oliver did not bother to turn and look. He could hear her footsteps clicking on the wooden floor, approaching him, until finally they stopped and he knew she was standing behind him.

"Oliver!" she said suddenly, her voice held an irritated note in it.

He rolled his eyes. He glared at the TV, not really watching what Owen had finally settled on. "What?" he replied in a low voice.

"Why aren't you dressed?"

Oliver raised a questioning eyebrow at that. He looked down at himself, noting the white t-shirt and socks and grey sweat pants he was wearing. "Okay, firstly, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not sitting here butt-naked on this couch," he said sarcastically.

"Thank God!" Owen quipped. "No one wants to see _that!_"

"Shut up," Oliver hissed at him. "Secondly," he continued his rant to Lilly. "I thought you weren't speaking to me, so what changed now? And lastly..." he said as he turned around to face her, "is... what are _you_ wearing?"

His eyes nearly came out of their sockets when he saw her attire. He certainly wasn't expecting to see her dressed like that.

She looked down at herself, brushing wrinkles off her outfit. She began to swing from side to side. "I don't know if you noticed, but –" she began her sentence just the way he said it, but he cut her off.

"That's a dress," he stated, still disbelieving.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "No kidding, Sherlock."

Oliver could not help but stare. She looked gorgeous. Of course it wasn't the first time he had seen her in a dress, but on the rare occasions that she did, it always took his breath away.

She had enhanced her eyes with dark blue eye shadow and put on rosy lipgloss, her hair was down in waves, and her dress was silver and had a v-shaped neckline that showed a little cleavage, which made Oliver gulp with difficulty. The skirt of her dress was flowy, but the shimmery fabric was wrapped tightly around in all the right places and it emphasized the curves of her body beautifully. To top it all, she even wore black pumps.

"Wow, you look hot!" Owen exclaimed when he looked up from the TV and noticed her. Nancy scolded at him from the kitchen, but he ignored her. "Who are you and what have you done with Lilly?"

Lilly smiled sweetly at him and blushed. She nodded in gratitude.

"W-wh-why... exactly are you wearing it?" Oliver asked feebly, still finding it hard to think straight.

Lilly blinked at him in confusion. "I thought we were going to that party."

Oliver looked up at her face, forcing himself to avoid staring at any other part of her body. "I didn't think we were, considering you didn't speak to me all day."

She simply shrugged. It was a wordless signal telling him she was over it. Oliver sighed. Girls can be so confusing sometimes.

"Well, too bad you didn't tell me you were planning on going. My mum already made dinner."

"Oh," Lilly said quietly. "Oh, that's fine. I'll just go change back, then."

She turned around and began to walk slowly and carefully (probably because she wasn't used to walk on high heels) back to her room.

Two more sets of clicking footsteps came over, this time from the kitchen. Lilly and Oliver's mums walked into the living room to check what Owen had yelled about.

"Lilly!" Heather gushed when she saw her daughter. "You look beautiful! Where are you going?"

Lilly smiled shyly, she cast a fleeting look at Oliver. "Nowhere."

Oliver sighed in regret. "Lilly, I'm sorry," he called over to her when he saw the disappointment on her face.

"No, it's fine, Oliver. You're right. I should have told you I still wanted to go to the party. My bad."

Nancy looked at Oliver with a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about? What party?"

"Logan Hartmann invited us to a party at his parents' lake house," he explained.

"Oh, that's so nice of him! We saw his mother yesterday at Wilma's, but she said they were going back home first thing this morning."

"I guess they did and he's just staying there for awhile longer," Oliver said, remembering Logan said his parents aren't going to be there.

"Then why aren't you going? Lilly is all dressed up," Heather said. She rubbed a hand over her daughter's shoulder.

"You mean we can skip dinner and go?" Lilly asked her hopefully, her eyes suddenly getting bigger.

"Well, I don't see why not. We can save you two plates and put them in the fridge."

Lilly smiled brightly at her mum. She threw her hands around her waist and hugged her tight. "Thank you!" She turned to look for approval from Oliver. "What do you say? Can we go?"

Oliver couldn't turn her down again. She looked so hurt before. He didn't have the heart to see her like that again. "Sure." She clapped excitedly and squealed. "Give me ten minutes to get ready."

Oliver jumped off the couch and went to his room to change. He quickly pulled on a dark pair of jeans, a navy-blue and white striped button down shirt, and wore his black Vans shoes.

He fixed his hair and smacked some cologne on his cheeks and examined himself in the mirror. Satisfied at his look, he smirked. Lilly looked really amazing tonight. He couldn't take the image of her off his mind. He just hoped he was looking dashing enough to catch her attention as well.

He ran down the stairs and straight into the kitchen. His father was sitting at the dining table, reading a paper. Oliver noticed the keys to the car lying beside him on the table. He quickly reached over to grab them, but his father was quicker and fished them out of Oliver's grasp.

"Hold it," his father called warningly.

"Dad, I need the car," Oliver said, reaching his hand over.

His dad lowered the paper and gave him a skeptical stare. "Is there going to be any alcohol at this party?"

Oliver scratched his head. "Uh..." His dad didn't lower his gaze. "No."

Lilly had walked over from the living room, now clad in a warm coat, and silently watched the exchange.

"Are you sure?"

Oliver merely nodded. Honestly, he didn't know whether there will be alcohol there or not. He expected there will be, but he knew that if he will tell his parents that, they will never let them go to that party.

He looked at his father pleadingly. There was no possible way to get to the party without driving there. It was too far. He needed the car.

"Dad, please?"

His dad held the keys in midair and Oliver meant to grab them, but noticed his father's glare and refrained himself. "Now, you take good care of Lilly. You call in case something happens. You'd be back here no later than twelve-thirty. There will be no drinking, no drinking and driving, no texting and driving, no smoking anything and no having unprotected sex. Got it?"

Oliver nodded throughout the entire lecture, until he heard the last part. "_Dad!_" he called, scandalized.

"Eww! I'm scarred for life!" Owen called all the way from the living room.

"Howard! Not in front of the kid!" Nancy hissed disapprovingly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Got it?" his dad repeated, never taking his gaze off Oliver, never even blinking.

Oliver's face turned bright red. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." He opened his palm and his dad dropped the keys into it. He grabbed them and gestured to Lilly with his head towards the door. "Thanks. Come on, Lils, let's go."

The two teenagers walked together and left the warm cabin and entered the cool night air. They walked silently to the car. Oliver, wanting to show Lilly how he can act like a gentleman and opened the car door for her.

"Thank you," she said in a small, shy voice as she got inside the Oken's rented minivan.

Oliver quickly jogged around the car, opened his door and sat in the driver's seat. He started the engine and turned on the radio, settling on the first thing that came on.

He looked over to Lilly, checking if she had put her seatbelt on and noticed the slight grin on her face.

"What?" he asked, simply amused by seeing her looking like that.

She suddenly burst out laughing. She leaned over and buried her face in her hands while she laughed. "_'No having unprotected sex!'_" she quoted in between laughs. Oliver couldn't help it. He started chuckling as well.

"I'm lucky he's accepting the fact I'm old enough to have sex," he said, sniggering. Lilly let out a small giggle as she tried to calm herself down. "And you'd think my dad mentioning that would be my problem. I need to find a partner, first."

Lilly chuckled. "Yeah, that's a real problem."

Oliver stopped mid-chuckle, realizing what she said. "Hey!" he called, pretending to be offended.

She looked at him innocently, as if she said nothing wrong. "Maybe you'll find somebody at the party tonight," she said with a cheeky wink.

Oliver gave her half-hearted smile. He backed off the parking spot and drove onto the main road. _Oh, there will be someone at the party tonight_, he thought to himself.

–––

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the Hartmanns' lake house. It was a two stories house, at least thrice as big as the Okens' cabin. Logan, being the snob person that he always was, had once told Oliver his family had three lake houses and this was one of them. The Hartmanns had money. They were a well-known family from Orange County, living the life of the rich and the famous.

Oliver parked in a nearby lot and he and Lilly walked out of the car and over to the house. They could hear loud music booming from the inside. A group of girls sat at the porch with red plastic cups in their hands and chatted loudly. Oliver guessed the party had started early, especially for them. As they passed by them and entered the house, Oliver could not help but notice they were eyeing him with interest and he blushed slightly. He thought he heard Lilly huff disapprovingly, but wasn't sure because of the noise.

"Stick beside me," Oliver yelled into her ear, loud enough for her to hear over the music. She grabbed his hand, pressed herself into him and nodded. He led her through the main hall and into the living room. He had been in this house before, but he didn't remember it ever being this packed with people. It looked like a typical teenage party. People danced, talked, drank and made out in every part of the house. Oliver wondered who were all these people and where they'd come from.

Finally, after pushing themselves through the thick, moving crowd, they had reached the living room. Oliver noticed the coffee table was stocked up with small bowls of snacks and a larger bowl with vibrant red punch. Next to it lay what looked like an empty silver flask and Oliver knew the punch had been spiked.

Oliver pulled Lilly to him and held her by the waist. "Can I have this dance?" he asked.

Lilly looked at him as if he was crazy. She laughed, not taking him seriously. When his expression didn't change, she erased the grin from her face. "Uh, it's not a slow song."

He simply shrugged and smiled. She returned his smile and nodded. He peeled off her coat and threw it on the back of the couch, and replaced his hands around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they slowly began to rock from side to side, ignoring the electronic, blasting music that did not match their rhythm.

He wished he could have shown her some awesome dance moves, impress her with something she might have not known about him, but he wasn't a good dancer at all, and she did know almost everything about him already.

He pretended he didn't notice she was avoiding making eye contact with him. Her eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but directly at him. He saw her face was flushed and a small smile traced his lips. Maybe she was embarrassed, but he couldn't feel a little satisfied with himself that there was a slight chance that he was the one making her blush like that.

She buried her face in his shoulder. "This is so silly," she chuckled. "People are staring at us."

Oliver noticed a few people cast them weird glances, but he didn't care. "So? You don't know them, just ignore them."

He could hear the smile in her voice. "You're right."

The music changed and a fast rock song came on. Lilly pulled herself away from Oliver, to his great disappointment, and began to dance around to the song, this time she was in sync with it. Oliver tried to join her, but failed to keep up with her or with the music. He watched her throw her hands up in the air and shake her head to the beat while she swayed her hips and smiled. He enjoyed watching her having fun.

After awhile, they grew tired and had enough of dancing. Oliver walked Lilly over to the large couch, pushing her down to sit on the armrest. The rest of the couch was occupied by a couple making out heatedly, and a boy who played the PlayStation with his friends who stood by next to him. They had a small group of fans, who were cheering them on while they played a boxing game. "Wait here," Oliver told Lilly. "I'm getting us something to drink. Stay away from the punch."

Lilly nodded and he walked off into the direction of the kitchen. He looked back at Lilly and saw her still sitting where he left her, looking uncomfortable at a strange, crowded place. He couldn't help but feel a bit bothered leaving her there alone, but tried to convince himself that she will be fine for a few minutes until he'll be back.

As he entered the kitchen, there was a loud gathering around a circular table. A group of guys were having a drinking contest. Oliver ignored them or the large beer keg in the room. He opened the fridge and helped himself for two cans of soda. As he turned around, he doubled back in surprise. He didn't expect to see Sam standing before him.

"Oken, my man! You made it!" Sam said cheerfully and engulfed Oliver into a big, brotherly hug. Oliver, like the last time, did not hug him back. "I'm so glad to see you, man!"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "Great party!" A small hiccup left his throat. Good thing it went unnoticed by Sam. Of course he lied. He hated this sort of things. He only came here to please Lilly. That's where he gathered his enjoyment from. If she had fun, then so will he. He loved seeing and making her happy.

Sam smirked and then his eyebrows rose up. "Hey, where's your friend?" He snapped his fingers as he tried to remember her name. "Oh! Lilly?"

"Uh, she's here," Oliver said. "I'm just getting us something to drink." He waved the two soda cans in his hands.

Sam chuckled. "Seriously, man? Is that what you're having? Let me get you something _real_ to drink!"

"Oh, no thanks," Oliver said quickly, stopping Sam just in time before he made his way to the keg. "I'm good."

Sam shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. Hey, let's go outside to talk."

Oliver hesitated, looking over his shoulder through the hallway to the living room, but it was too crowded to see Lilly there. "Uh..." he said uncertainly.

Sam clapped Oliver on the back and led him through the back door in the kitchen. "Come on, five minutes. I need some fresh air," he said.

Oliver followed him without much choice, leaving the soda cans on the kitchen counter. He was sure that Lilly won't miss him for a few minutes.

They walked out to a large green bank, and Sam sat down on a wooden bench facing a different angle of the lake. Oliver remained standing, bowing his head and shuffling his foot uncomfortably on the damp grass.

Sam dug into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a Zippo lighter and a packet of cigarettes. He pulled one out and offered it to Oliver. "Fresh air?" he asked with a grin. Oliver smiled faintly but shook his head. Sam shrugged, put the cigarette in his mouth and lightened it. A puff of smoke left his mouth when he exhaled. "You're too soft, Ol," Sam said, using an old nickname he once gave him when they were kids. Oliver didn't mind people alternating his name or giving him nicknames, but when Sam said it, it irritated him. "Not drinking or smoking. Makes me think all you Malibu fellas are nerds." He chuckled. Oliver ignored him. He chose not to mention the fact he got a tattoo. For him it wasn't nerdy at all. "Seriously, Oken, it's a party, loosen up."

Oliver shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. He shrugged. "I'm goo –"

"Good. Yeah, you said it already. Yet you look out of place."

"A lot changed since we last met, Sam."

Sam stood up and walked over to Oliver, holding his half-smoked cigarette between his fingers. "We didn't change. We just grew up. You know, there is a time in your life when hit a stage and you realize that surfing and skateboarding isn't fun anymore, so you look for something else to pass the time with. Like girls, for an instance."

Sam's ramblings reminded Oliver of Lilly. He looked at his watch, noticing he left her alone for far too long. She was probably wondering where he disappeared to. "I should... get back to Lilly," Oliver said slowly, taking a step back and pointing with his thumb behind him.

Sam grabbed Oliver by the shoulder and stopped him just before he turned to leave. "Speaking of which, what is your deal with Lilly?" he inquired.

Oliver frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Like, what's your status? Are you _just_ friends, or is something happening there?"

"Umm..." Oliver rubbed the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable at the question. He wasn't sure how to answer it, or even if he should. What was he suppose to say? If Sam liked Lilly, then Oliver didn't like it and he sure didn't want to talk to him about it. "I... It's complic –"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested," Sam said quickly and Oliver immediately felt relieved, but the anxiety came back when Sam went on, "But Logan is. He wanted to know if it's okay to make a move. You know, if she's your girl, then it's cool, he will back off, but if she's single –"

"Yeah, she's my girl," Oliver said confidently in one quick breath, before he even had time to think about it. It all came so fast. He knew there was something behind the way Logan looked at Lilly this morning; he was interested in her. Oliver gulped hard, feeling the room's temperature suddenly rise up.

Sam nodded. "Like I said, that's cool. Good to know."

"Yeah..." Oliver said. His teeth were clenched tight. He wanted to go back to Lilly, but something bothered him. "Hey, where _is_ Logan, by the way?"

Sam shook his head. "Dunno. I saw him earlier, but I have no idea where he is right now. Probably went to look around, if you know what I mean," he said and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Oliver.

Oliver nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Logan was on a hunt quest for someone to hook up with.

Then it hit him, like a bolt of lightning. "But you –"

Sam shrugged. "He's Logan. There's no stopping him," he excused.

Oliver left Sam in the back yard and quickly made his way back into the house and to the living room where he left Lilly. He was sorry he ever became friends with those two guys. Sure, they used to be fun to hang out with when they were kids, but now, they were nothing but trouble.

"Lilly!" he called out, but his voice disappeared into the loud music.

He entered the living room and found a completely different scene from the one he remembered when he left. The PlayStation competition was already over and the TV was now playing a rerun of a football game, and the making out couple was replaced by a different couple, both were blondes and they both sat very closely, to Oliver's dismay.

Logan was leaning over and whispering something in Lilly's ear. She laughed at whatever he said. She picked a plastic cup off the table and sipped from it and laughed again as Logan flirtingly brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Oliver watched painfully as Logan leaned over and neared his lips to Lilly's.

Realizing quickly why Sam was suddenly so interested in catching up with him, he began to curse himself for being so stupid and blind. It was nothing but a distraction to keep him away from Lilly, to buy Logan time with her.

He couldn't let it happen; he had to interfere, before it'd be too late. He rushed over to them, knocked the drink off Lilly's hand, and pulled her up from the couch. Logan backed away instantly and watched them speechlessly.

"Oliver! What are you doing?!" she asked, outraged by his rude behavior.

"What are you drinking?" he accused, ignoring her. He pointed at the golden liquid that spilled on the floor. The puddle was quite small, showing him that Lilly had drunk most of her drink.

She staggered, but quickly regained balance and folded her hands over her chest. "Relax, it's not punch."

"What did you give her?" Oliver shot at Logan.

"It's just cider, man," Logan answered, trying to sound innocent, but the gleam in his eyes made Oliver aware that he was obviously lying. Oliver looked back at Lilly and she nodded a bit too forcefully for someone who supposedly drank a cup of mere cider.

He picked the cup from the floor and sniffed it. The strong smell of alcohol filled his nose. "That's not cider, Lilly, that's beer."

She frowned scornfully. "Whatever. Can't I have fun? I'm not driving, you are."

"Fun? I left you alone for a few minutes and now look at you! You're drunk! I promised I would take care of you, Lilly."

"I don't need you to take care of me, Oliver. You're not my brother!"

"Listen, Oliver, we were just talking..." Logan said, meaning to get up and raising his hands innocently.

"Shut up!" Oliver yelled at him, pointing him to stay down on the couch. "This doesn't concern you. Come on, Lilly, party's over. We're going home."

He grabbed Lilly's arm, but she yanked it back. "No!" she said in a hard voice. "I want to stay."

"No, you're not. We're leaving. Now," he replied with the same tone of voice.

She frowned. "Who's gonna make me?" she challenged and sat back on couch, her hands still folded over her chest.

Oliver knew it was probably the alcohol talking for her. It was the first time she ever had any and he was sure it caused her to become intoxicated by the first sip. She was acting mean and unlike her usual sweet self. He hated this Lilly. He did not know how to deal with her. He did not have the strength to fight with her over this. If she wanted to stay, then so be it.

"Fine, suit yourself. I'm outta here," he said and left the room.

"Oliver! Oliver, where are you going?" she called after him, but she did not follow and he was glad. He knew if he saw her right now, he would yell or do something much worse, that he would regret later. He was not going to act out of anger or frustration. He needed fresh air to calm down and some time to think.

He strode out of the house and over to his car, full with anger. He stood by it, looking back at the house, waiting to see if maybe she will emerge outside. She didn't.

He felt so mad and he wasn't sure at whom. Was it at himself that he was angry, for leaving her alone and not keeping an eye on her while she got herself drunk? Or was it at her, for acting so stupid and trusting people she shouldn't, for liking someone else after knowing him for ten minutes when she knew Oliver her whole life?

Needing to take off his anger at something, he began to kick the wheels of the car until his foot began to hurt.

"DAMN IT!" he screamed and leaned over the car, burying his face between his hands, not caring if anyone saw or heard him.

He stopped, knowing anger was not the way to resolve his problems. He opened the car and sat inside. He put the key into the ignition and started it. He held his hands on the steering wheel, but sat still, trying to listen to the radio, but his head was packed with thoughts to really hear anything.

About thirty minutes later, the passenger's door opened and Lilly climbed into the seat beside him.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked straight away. He noticed her voice was broken and knew she started crying. He did not turn to look at her. It was the last thing he needed right now. He needed to hate her for a minute. If he would turn to look at her, he will forget it all and forgive her in a heartbeat.

"Nothing. Everything," he replied in a monotonic voice. He was still holding on the steering wheel, looking out the window and into the parking lot outside the lake house.

"So what, are you mad at me right now?" she asked and sniffed loudly.

He didn't reply. It made her turn in her seat and face him. "I should be mad at you, you know!"

Oliver gave one bitter chuckle. "And what for?"

"You left me there, with strangers!"

He gave out another laugh. "I didn't leave you; I'm here, aren't I? And you're the one who insisted to stay, remember? And what you're talking about? 'Strangers'? Really? Because it seemed you weren't strangers at all. You looked pretty friendly, to me."

"I don't know what your problem is, but Logan is not a bad guy."

At that, he finally turned to her and gave her an empty gaze. "He's not a good guy, either."

She shivered. At first, he thought it was the way he looked at her that made her do that, but then he noticed she wrapped her arms tight around herself and he realized something was missing.

"Where's your coat?" he asked. There it was, the caring feeling he felt for her whenever he saw her. He knew it would happen. That's why he knew he was in love with her. He could never stay mad at her for more than five minutes.

She shrugged and looked down at her lap. "I left it inside," she said in a small voice.

Without thinking, Oliver left the car and marched into the house again. He walked straight into the living room; it was the only place he knew Lilly had been and remembered leaving her coat there.

The music was on a much lower volume now. A gaggle of laughter distinctly filled his ears. As he approached the living room, he could hear Logan joking around with his friends. Lilly's name suddenly came up in their conversation. Oliver stopped at the hall and listened.

"Tell me what happened with Lilly," Sam said.

Logan let out a chuckle. "What a beauty, huh? And she was so easy. Once Oken left, had her in a second," he praised proudly.

Sam laughed hard. "Oken said she was his."

Logan sniggered. "Well, she certainly wasn't his when I had her."

Sam and the rest of Logan's friends laughed, as if he just told the most hilarious joke in the world. Oliver felt a sudden wave of goosebumps running down his hands. He could not take it anymore, he gathered too much anger in one night that it was now bubbling inside him, threatening to spill out.

"She was inexperienced at first, but later she got the hang of it," Logan went on and something inside Oliver snapped.

He pushed his way through the crowd and lunged at Logan. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, taking him off guard, and threw him down on the coffee table. The table snapped and broke underneath him and a great _crash_ sound filled the room. The red punch spilled over the floor, staining Logan's fancy, 100 dollar shirt.

"You son of a –" Oliver started, but Logan's mocking laugh cut him off.

Oliver did not like being taunted and he did not like hearing people spreading false stories about his friends. Oliver pinned Logan down against the broken pieces of the wooden table and grabbed his collar once again. Before he had time to think it through, his fist had connected with Logan's jaw.

Logan was thrown back to the floor and yelped in pain as blood began to flow from his lip. Logan's friends were up on their feet, an army of bulk men, ready to back him up, but he held his hand up, stopping them.

"You pathetic excuse of a person!" Oliver spat, wanting to kick him but this time he refrained himself.

Logan nursed his cut lip, gingerly touching the bleeding wound. He looked up at Oliver and sneered.

"What's the matter, Oken? She was done with me, so she went back to you?" Logan jeered. "Can't blame her, really; all she wanted was a bit of attention. And when you left her with me, I had to comfort her... _somehow_."

_That's it!_ Oliver thought and he drew his hand back, ready to strike again, but Sam, who might be shorter than Oliver, but twice as stronger, had grabbed him from behind and held him back.

"You liar!" Oliver yelled, struggling to break free and have a go at him again, but Sam held him back without any difficulty. "Lilly would never –"

"Why don't you ask her, then?" Logan slandered, carefully rising back on his feet. He strutted over to Oliver. "Ask her how she wanted me." He stopped in front of Oliver. "Ask her how she complained you don't appreciate her. Really, Oken, will it kill you to throw her a compliment every once in a while?" Logan finished his rant, cocked his head to the side and smirked. Oliver anticipated him punching him in return. He saw how Logan's hand swung back, ready to blow. He ducked just in time and Logan's fist missed his head by a mere inch and hit Sam's nose. Sam immediately let go of Oliver and held his nose in pain. Before Logan had realized what happened, Oliver raised his knee high and kicked his groin hard. Logan fell to the floor, curled into a ball and whimpered in pain, unable to move.

Oliver saw the rest of Logan's friends beginning to corner him. He noticed Lilly's coat lying on the back of the couch. He managed to grab it quickly and ran for the door, pushing people out of the way as he moved.

He ran to his car, quickly got inside and pressed on the gas paddle, thankful he left the engine still running. He threw Lilly's coat at her, and buckled his seatbelt as he drove out of there as fast as he could.

"What happened?" Lilly asked, panic in her voice.

Oliver didn't reply. He tried to stay calm and focused on the road. His hands shook on the steering wheel and Lilly noticed it. She gasped. "Oliver, your hand!" she called, alarmed. "You're bleeding!"

"It's fine," he dismissed, but she disregarded his words and touched the blood carefully.

"I said it's fine," Oliver scolded in a stiff voice, shooting her a hard stare before his eyes went back to the road ahead. "It's not my blood."

"What did you do?" she asked. He gulped hard and ignored her question again. "You punched him, didn't you?"

Oliver took in a deep breath. After a moment of silence, he said, "He deserved it."

"Did he?"

Oliver shook his head vigorously from side to side, trying to force the memories from the last hour to disappear, but they refused to go away. Logan was stuck in there, his words still as jeering as before.

Oliver's eyes were fixed on the open road, never shifting to look at her again. He couldn't, not after what he heard Logan say.

"Tell me, Lilly, why did we come here tonight?" he asked. "Why did you dress like that? Who were you trying to impress? _Him?_"

She huffed angrily and sat back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest. "So what if I was? What's it to you? You can wear an outfit and I can't?"

He chuckled hollowly. "What outfit?" He looked down at his clothes and then back to the road. "A shirt and jeans?"

"Well, what's wrong with my dress?"

"You _never_ dress like that, Lilly! Every party we ever gone to, you always wore a blouse and trousers or something really kitschy and bright like a cartoon character would wear."

"Yeah, I also wore pink wigs. That's how Lola dresses, in case you haven't noticed. I'm Lilly, nice to meet you," she retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Oliver, there's no harm with dressing nice to a party!"

"It is when it comes to guys like him! Stop being so naïve, Lilly." She didn't reply to that. The silence gave him a chance to continue his preaching. "I hope at least you got what you wanted. I sure know he did."

She glared at him. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

He turned quiet, contemplating whether he should just throw it in her face or keep it to himself. After a moment of silent, he sighed. "Nothing."

"No, Oliver, tell me!" she demanded. "Did he say anything to you?"

"No."

"He must have said something to trigger you off, or else you wouldn't have punched him until he'd bleed."

Oliver couldn't take it anymore. He needed to know the truth. He knew that one of them was lying and he sure hoped it wasn't Lilly. His whole life he trusted her and he wanted to trust her right now, but still he wanted to hear her say it. His gaze shifted between Lilly and the road and blurted, "Did you kiss him?"

"What?" Lilly asked, taken aback.

"Did you kiss him?" Oliver asked again, his voice harsher. "Did you... Hell, I can't even say it."

"What? _No!_ No, I didn't!" Lilly called in defense. Panic was filling he voice again. "Is that what he said?"

Oliver clenched his teeth hard, wanting so badly to believe her, but something just didn't make sense. He was missing pieces from the puzzle.

"Then where were you?" Oliver asked, trying to make his best not to sound like he was accusing her. He just needed answers. "I must have waited for you for thirty minutes or so."

"I... I..." she stammered. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "After you left, I stayed there, with him; I thought maybe he will provide me some company until you came back, but you didn't. Logan... He tried to make a move, but I didn't let him. I left him there and went to search around the house for you. When I couldn't find you, I went outside. I saw your car's headlights were on, so I knew you haven't left yet." She took a deep breath. "You may not believe me, Oliver, but it's the truth."

Oliver listened and tried to connect the dots. It made more sense now that she explained her side of the story. He knew he shouldn't have believed Logan. Lilly would never lie to him. She would never do those things Logan said she did. "No, I... I believe you," he said quietly and he wasn't sure she heard him.

Lilly seemed to be thinking about things as well. She seemed troubled. After a moment of silence between them, she finally asked, "Is that why you punched him?"

Oliver did not answer her. He did not want to explain why he punched him; it will hurt her even more.

"What did he say?" she pressed.

"Nothing. Just forget it."

"No, Oliver! I have the right to know if someone said things about me. Tell me what he said!" she demanded, her voice rising up.

"He said you hooked up, okay?" Oliver spat. He watched her heated expression slowly change into the painful look he did not want to see on her face. He regretted it immediately. "Only he used much harsher words than that."

Lilly seemed to be lost in thought. Her eyes darted from side to side as she contemplated what she just heard. She looked hurt and vulnerable and he hated making her feel this way. Still, she was naïve enough to trust someone like Logan.

"Still think he's not a bad guy?" Oliver asked quietly, but she did not reply. She looked tired and Oliver guessed that after he left her with Logan, she drank more beer and the alcohol was now beginning to take effects.

They arrived back to the cabin. He noticed the lights were all out and was surprised everyone already went to sleep. He expected to find his mother or dad staying up and wait for them to come back. He was thankful they didn't.

Oliver turned off the engine and the lights of the car, not wanting to make noise and wake everyone up. It was still early. They didn't spend much time at the party, after all.

A muffled grumble sound caught his attention and his eyes shot to Lilly with curiosity.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. He couldn't help but keep the concern out of his voice. She nodded quietly.

Oliver sighed when he saw her current state. She turned uncooperative and silent. She mellowed with her thoughts and let the alcohol she consumed change her. It was no wonder she had gotten drunk so easily, she drank on an empty stomach.

"Let's see what they left for us to eat," he said. They opened the car's doors and Oliver saw she was struggling standing on her feet. He hurried over to her and helped her out. She threw her hand around his shoulders and he supported her weight as he walked her carefully to the cabin.

"My head hurts," she whimpered. "Everything is spinning."

She staggered as she walked and Oliver wondered how she managed to get back to the car from the house without falling.

"Thank you, Oliver. You are always so kind to me. You're such a good friend," she mumbled. "I'm sorry about what I said before. I like it when you take care of me."

"Shhh... It's nothing, Lilly," Oliver whispered as they entered the dark cabin. He turned on the nearest light switch. She moaned at the sudden brightness in room, squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into his shoulder. "It'd all be over soon."

Before he knew what she was doing, Lilly stepped before him. She held his neck with one hand, while she put the other on his cheek and began caressing it softly. In a swift move, she leaned over and her lips missed his cheek and hit the corner of his mouth in a chaste peck. It took Oliver a long moment to realize what happened. His eyes widened with shock. He saw she had the same, bewildered look on her face.

He didn't even have time to respond. Her head suddenly slid to his shoulder again and her body went limb. Oliver quickly grabbed her before she fell. She giggled. "Oopsie," she muttered and then she passed out.

Oliver looked at her and sighed in disappointment at another missed opportunity. He had no choice but to carry her up to his room and put her on his bed. He covered her with his blanket and watched her sleep peacefully.

This whole day had been very emotional and stressful. He was glad it was over. Tomorrow will be a new day and a start to a new beginning; maybe even a new relationship. He still needed to figure out what to do with this girl that now slept in his bed. They had a lot to talk about. And one particular thing that will probably keep him up all night and will never leave his mind was that unexpected kiss.

He sighed. _One day, Lilly Truscott, I will kiss you for real. _He cast one last look at her sleeping form and walked out.

–––

**A/N: **Wow, that was a really long one, huh? Don't you think it deserve a review? I do. Don't forget your reviews motivate me to keep writing. Thank you! :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** I hope you all liked the previous chapter and would like this one as well. I thought it would be shorter, but I couldn't stop writing and it ended up longer. Well, the longer the better, right? But don't get used to it, because I can't promise all the chapters from now on will be this long. Just don't forget to review after reading. I worked really hard on this one. Okay? Thanks and enjoy!

**Please note this chapter contains hints of mature content.**

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 11:**

Oliver cast one last look at Lilly's sleeping form and turned to walk out of his room.

Before he reached the door, however, a low whimper reached his ears and he stopped. "Oliver..." Lilly's voice called quietly. He turned back with curiosity and saw she was awake again.

He didn't know what it was exactly, but there was something in her gaze that made him approach her. Maybe it was the intensity in her eyes or the way she bit her bottom lip with her teeth that beckoned him over.

He stood by the bed and looked down at her while she looked up at him. The room was dark, but not completely. Oliver could see her perfectly thanks to the moonlight that streamed through the open window. Her eyes locked with his, neither of them dared to blink, too scared to break the tension. He slowly sat at the edge of the bed, his body turned to her. Her hands slowly traveled across the mattress and reached his, interlacing their fingers together. She began to slowly caress his palm with her thumb. Oliver looked down at her hands, watching them with transfixion. The touch of her fingers felt soft and delicate.

Oliver turned back to look at her face. The second he noticed the spark in her eyes, she shut them tight and her hands suddenly jumped to the collar of his shirt and she yanked him down to her.

He fell on top of her, at first not understanding what was going on. Then slowly, he came to his senses when the soft, wet feeling of her lips pressed to his registered in his mind.

_Lilly is kissing me. Really kissing me,_ he thought. Slowly and tentatively, he began to return the kiss. His lips began to move in synced rhythm with hers. As much as he was enjoying himself, a distant voice in the back of his mind was screaming_ this is crazy! You can't do that! She's drunk! _But when Lilly's tongue requested entrance to his mouth, he had to comply. All coherent thought from his head flew out of the window and he just went on with it.

'Amazing' was not even a suitable enough word to describe how it felt like kissing her. It was like Heaven and Hell didn't exist. It was better; he was now in the beyond and he never wanted to go back to Earth.

She pulled him closer and he slowly climbed on top of her, resting his hands on either side of her head and his fingers fumbled with the locks of her hair. He couldn't get enough of her; he needed more, he needed to feel her closer. His hands grabbed her face, caressing it lightly as he peppered it with kisses.

"Oliver," she sighed in content. He enjoyed the way she called his name like that.

"Lilly," he whispered back automatically.

He moved down to her neck, planting soft kisses there and she giggled.

She called out his name again, a bit louder this time. "Oliver."

"OLIVER OSCAR OKEN!"

Oliver's eyes snapped open with a start, instantly shutting back tight when they met the morning's brightness. He moaned loudly in protest and covered his head with the thin quilt he used overnight.

"Get up! I'm talking to you!" Nancy's booming voice rang in his ears. Slowly, the images of Lilly in his arms disappeared from his brain. He tried to hold on to them a bit longer, but it was no use, the dream faded away, leaving only a sweet memory.

Oliver's hand quietly sneaked out from beneath the blanket and over to the coffee table that stood near the couch he lay on, and fumbled around until he found the remote control to the TV. He lifted it up and blindly aimed it in the direction his mother's voice came from, pressing hard on random buttons.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a voice mixed with harshness and confusion.

"Trying to tune the volume down, you're being extremely loud," he whined, his voice still a husky from sleep.

The remote was snatched from his hand and he heard his mother huff angrily. "Did you drink last night?"

Oliver groaned. "What? No!"

"Then get up now and stop being rude!"

"I'm not trying to be rude, I'm trying to sleep," he muttered.

"I don't like your attitude, Mister," his mother scolded. "What are you doing sleeping on the couch and where is Lilly?"

Oliver sighed in exasperation, knowing he lost all hope to fall asleep again. He let out a loud yawn as he pulled the blanket off his face, rubbed the sleep off his eyes and looked up blearily at his mother. "She's in my room."

"Why?"

"Because when we came back, everyone was already sleeping, and she didn't want to wake up her mum, so I offered her my room and I slept here." He was amazed how he didn't even hiccup and praised himself for actually becoming better at lying. He mentally noted to himself that he should get extra credit for lying to his mother, who is a cop and the most intimidating person he'd ever known.

He noted the frown on his mum's face. "Some people would call it being a gentleman," he added.

She huffed angrily again. "Get up. Go brush your teeth. Now," she ordered in a firm voice as she turned on her heel and left the room. Oliver could still hear her muttering under her breath as she walked out.

Oliver blinked, still finding it hard to shake the sleep off. A childish giggle caught him off-guard. He stretched and turned his head around, only to find his brother standing by and watching him amusedly.

"What?" Oliver asked with a frown, confused and annoyed at the same time.

"You're weird," Owen said randomly.

"You're weird! Get lost!" Oliver yelled, reaching for a pillow and throwing it at him. Owen dodged it and laughed.

"Whatever, I'm not the one who was moaning 'Lilly' in my sleep," Owen commented, picking up the pillow and throwing it back at Oliver. Oliver was too dumbfounded by his brother's words to notice the pillow flying at him. It hit his head and fell in his lap. "Nice tent, by the way..."

Oliver quickly became aware of the lower area of his body, which was covered by the thin quilt and also currently by the pillow. A bright red color spread over his neck and cheeks. Owen started cackling, which made Oliver quickly turn his embarrassment to irritation.

"MUM! GET HIM AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed, but it only made Owen laugh harder. Oliver had enough, and made a threatening move to grab him. At that, Owen's eyes widened in alarm and he ran outside, probably going to complain to their mum that Oliver meant to hit him. It didn't take long before she called out his name in warning.

Oliver rolled his eyes. He took a deep breath to calm himself, mentally and anatomically. After managing that, he got up and made his way up the stairs and to the bathroom.

The door to the bathroom swung open just as he was about to grab the doorknob. Both he and Lilly took a double step back before they collided into each other.

"Oh, hey, you're up," Oliver said in surprised. He expected her to still be asleep.

She smiled. By first glance, she looked invigorated. She had changed out of her dress from last night and into casual clothes. Her hair was down, making it look as if she had a golden aura around her face. He skin looked glowing without any makeup. Oliver wondered how is it that she looked so refreshed after being drunk the night before.

Then her smile turned into a grimace and her hand shot to her temple, and she began rubbing it in circles. "Uh, yeah..." she said weakly.

Oliver merely nodded, now understanding that her external looks were only a disguise. "Sorry," Oliver said sympathetically.

He suddenly had a flashback to last night. The memory of Lilly held in his arms, her hand on his face and her lips touching his skin. He wanted so badly to talk about it, to understand what it meant, and maybe finally tell her how he really felt.

"I... I should... get down," she said, her voice mirroring the awkwardness they both felt.

"Um, yeah," Oliver said, realizing he was standing in her way. He stepped aside and let her through. She got out of the bathroom and he entered it, while she slowly made her way down the stairs. "Oh, Lilly," he suddenly called, making her stop midway and turn to look at him. "Drink some coffee, it will help."

"Thank you," she said and gave him a shy smile and a thankful nod before she went down. Oliver watched her take one slow step at a time, while holding tight to the banister, wavering slightly as she walked. A moment later, he faintly heard her greeting everyone with a fake joyful 'good morning.'

After taking a much needed cold shower, brushing his teeth and changing his clothes, he went to the kitchen to grab a danish and a cup of coffee, and went outside to sit with everyone else.

He sat next to Lilly, who was sitting on the shady end of the bench and was sipping slowly from her own cup of coffee. She seemed quiet, and Oliver assumed she was still fighting the side effects of being hungover.

"So, Oliver, how was the party last night?" his dad asked. Everyone turned silent and turned to listen to Oliver.

Caught by surprise with everyone's attention turned to him, he raised his head up and looked at each of their faces. "Uh, very... eventful," he said and absentmindedly began to rub his knuckles.

"Did you have fun?" Heather asked.

"Lilly did," Oliver said and Lilly raised her head to look at him, her eyes begging him not to say anything.

"And you didn't?"

He looked back at Lilly, silently asking her with his eyes what answer he should give. Hers merely said 'please don't.' After a short moment of considering his options, he said, "I'm not really a party person."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Lilly let out a small sigh of relief.

"Speaking of parties," Heather said to Nancy and thankfully changed the subject. "Is there somewhere we could go to?"

"Well, there's a local club," Howard noted.

"Oh, that's right!" Nancy said eagerly. "They have family karaoke nights every Sunday. What day is today?"

"Saturday," Oliver pointed out.

"That sounds like fun!" Heather agreed excitedly. "How about we should all go there tomorrow?"

The three adults all agreed, leaving the kids no choice but to tag along. Oliver was thankful he had another day to think of an excuse to bail out of it. He hated karaoke. Then he realized something.

"Hey, today's Saturday," he said again, this time to Lilly.

She nodded and looked up at him with confusion. "Yeah, you said that already. So?"

"It's movie night, Lils," he reminded her, saying it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. They had movie nights every Saturday ever since they were kids.

She smiled as she remembered. "Oh, yeah..."

"Ugh, I don't like the movies we have here," Owen grumbled, not understanding he was not invited. "We've seen them so many times already."

"You can go to the store," Nancy said. "They have a Blockbuster Express machine there. And Oliver, I need you to buy a few things, if you're already going there."

"Great, so I guess I'm going there," he muttered and rolled his eyes. He turned to Lilly. "Do you want to come and help me choose a movie?"

Lilly shook her head. "Not feeling well," she reminded him. "I rather stay here and rest."

"Oh, right."

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Heather asked Lilly in concern.

"Nothing, Mum," Lilly answered quickly.

Heather grimaced. "Oh, is it that time of the month again?" She patted her stomach to express her meaning.

Lilly's eyes widened. "Mum!" she called, taken aback.

Oliver blushed and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck uncomfortably, avoiding looking at Lilly's way.

"Right, sorry," Heather apologized and put a finger to her lips when she realized her mistake. An awkward silence fell around the porch.

"So..." Oliver said loudly and clapped his hands, forcibly changing the subject. "Mum, I need money and you to tell me what you need me to get."

Oliver was instructed exactly what to buy and he was forced to take his little brother along with him.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young man," his mother chided and Oliver pouted. He wished Lilly would come instead, but she had gone back inside to rest in the living room.

He sighed and grabbed the keys of the car. "Come on, Squirt, let's go," he said to Owen, and his brother ran to the car.

"Oliver, wait," Lilly called from the couch in the Living room. Oliver stopped before heading out the door and turned to look at her. "Don't pick a horror movie," she said.

He smirked. "I thought you liked horror movies."

She smiled in return. "I do, but you don't." She gave him a wink.

"What? I do too."

"Okay, let me remind you of our movie night two weeks ago. We watched _Saw 5_ and you were afraid to get into your car, because you thought there would be a trap in it, so you _walked_ home," she chuckled. "You don't like horror movies. Don't make the same mistake as before and pick one."

He frowned. "Fine," he said shortly and went out the door. Then he stopped and returned inside. "Say, can we talk when I get back?"

She looked at him for a moment, processing his request before she nodded. "Sure."

"Okay. See you later," he said and left.

–––

"Can I get a slushie?" Owen asked as they walked into the store. More like, Oliver walked and Owen was jumping and skipping around.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Oliver said, not really paying much attention to him. He pushed his cart and walked down the aisles of groceries, looking at the list his mum gave him. "Milk, eggs, Coke..." he read and skimmed the rest of the list, noting how long it was. "Dear God, we're only gonna be here for a few more days, what's all this for?"

He sighed. Owen was tugging at his shirt. "Can I have an ice-cream?"

Oliver looked down at his brother. "Slushie _and_ ice-cream? You'd get sick," he said.

Owen furrowed an eyebrow at him. "Why would you care?"

Oliver shrugged. "You're right, I don't. Here's 10 bucks, go get crazy," he said and handed the money to his brother. Owen squealed and ran away, finally leaving Oliver alone. "If you can't find me, wait for me at the exit," he called after him, but he wasn't sure he heard him. He let out a sigh and began to fill up his cart with groceries.

Finally, after paying for everything, he made his way to the Blockbuster Express machine outside and looked at the selection of movies. He noted Owen was sitting on a bench nearby, looking through a comic book he probably just bought.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Oliver Oken, the Havoc Man," a girly voice said from behind, clicking her tongue. Oliver frowned, not understanding who she could be since there weren't a lot of people here that knew him. He turned to check, but he didn't recognize her.

She looked younger than him, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old. She had a pixie hairstyle. Her hair color was unnatural charcoal black and had pink highlights in it. Her lips were glossy-red and full and her eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner around them. Her outfit was mostly black: a black tank top, a plaid red-and-black miniskirt, a knee-length striped socks and black Converse shoes. Oliver then noted she had also tied a black hoodie around her waist. He got the chills seeing she was so... exposed. He wondered if she weren't cold, there was a cool breeze blowing after all.

She put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Seriously? You do the world a solid and beat up my brother, but you won't even say 'hello' to me when you see me? And it's been twice that you've seen me in the past two days. Wow, you've become rude!"

Oliver narrowed his eyes as he studied her features. Her heart-shaped face and bright blue eyes looked familiar, and she said he beat up her brother last night? She must have meant Logan, but Logan's sister was blonde and was eight year old. Well, at least she was the last time he saw her...

"Ver... _Veronica_?" he asked as it finally dawned on him.

She held her hands to her sides, near her shoulders, in a 'surprise!' motion. "The one and only," she said with a cheeky grin and chuckled. Her laugh sounded like wind chimes.

Without a fair warning, she closed the distance between them, threw her hands around his neck and engulfed him into a hug. Oliver was too stunned to hug her back and he gulped hard at the contact. Thankfully, she pulled away quickly.

"Wow, it's great seeing you," he said, still finding it hard to believe that the little girl he remembered was now standing before him, looking like... well, _that_. Oliver then understood she was one of the girls who sat on the porch of the Lake House last night. "Sorry for not recognizing you, but man, you've changed!"

"Yeah, I know, I look all emo right now, and I rock it. That's my way of getting back at my parents for giving the crap. Oh, and I go by Ronnie now. You know, the shorter the better." She laughed as she pointed at her hair and clothes and Oliver couldn't help but laugh as well.

"So, Vero – _Ronnie_," he quickly corrected when she eyed him dangerously. "Okay, this is seriously hard getting used to," he muttered and they both laughed again. "Are you here alone?"

"Yeah," she said. "Needed some cleaning supplies, for the house, you know."

She pointed to the floor, where two plastic bags full of cleaning spray bottles and sponges, sat by her feet.

Oliver suddenly tensed up. "Um, speaking of which... I'm sorry about all the mess I caused last night." But he wasn't sorry for hitting Logan.

She raised her hands up as if in defeat. "Hey, no apologizing is needed. Logan totally deserved it. I've been dealing with him for years. He's a crappy person. And that should really mean something, coming from his sister."

"Where is he, by the way?" Oliver asked, his eyes searching around, fearing Logan will pop out of a corner and beat him up.

Ronnie noticed his anxiety and laughed lightly. "Don't worry. My parents heard about the party. They came back first thing in the morning and took him back home with them. I was in charge of getting the house back to its previous state. They dropped me off here and left."

"So how are you getting back?"

"Where, back to the Lake House or back home?"

Oliver shrugged. "Both, I guess."

"Well, my mum arranged me a ride back home. I'm going back tonight. And as for the Lake House, I'm not sure, but I'll think of something, don't worry. I always do."

"I can drive you, if you want," Oliver suggested. He couldn't leave her alone here, in the middle of nowhere. "I have a car right here, it's no problem."

"Really?" she asked, surprised at the generous offer. He nodded. "No, I can't. Thank you, but it's too much."

"It's really isn't. It's not like I'm carrying you on my back. It's just me and Owen. We have the room." He motioned to his brother who was sitting close by.

She turned to look the same way. "Is that little Owen? He was like three years old the last time I saw him."

"He's still three years old mentally," Oliver joked. Ronnie laughed again. For someone who looked so emo, she sure was a delightful person. "So, back to biz. Should I load those to the car?" he pointed at her bags.

She nodded, looking impressed. "Wow. A chauffeur and a porter. Never had one of them before. This must be my lucky day."

"You keep that sarcasm and you be left here to hitchhike with a trucker," Oliver said, using sarcasm in return. Luckily she knew he wasn't serious. "I only have one condition, though."

"What's that?"

"You're a girl."

"Evidently."

Oliver gestured with his head towards the Blockbuster machine. "Help me pick up a movie that girls would like."

Ronnie looked behind him at the machine. "Oh, you don't want any of that crap."

There was that word again, _crap_. He noticed she used it quite a lot. He wondered if she knew any other curse words. She probably did, but that one must be her favorite. He suppressed the smile that was threatening to show on his lips and put on a serious expression. "I don't?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I mean, look at what they have here. _The_ _Curious Case of Benjamin Button_? Seriously? What you want is a real classic."

He frowned and fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't think Lilly is all forward to a 40s' movie. And _Benjamin Button_ only won like three Oscar awards."

She giggled. "Oh, no, I didn't mean _that_ kind of classic. Come on, drop me off at my place and I'll lend you something from my collection."

He nodded. "Sounds fair," he said and picked up her bags onto his shopping cart. He called over to his brother and they all walked to the car.

Once they loaded all of the bags into the car and were all seated inside, Oliver started the engine. Ronnie took her hoodie off her waist to get more comfortable with the seatbelt on. Owen was forced to sit in the back this time.

"Who are you?" Owen asked Ronnie.

Ronnie turned to look at him amusedly. Oliver adjusted his rearview mirror and looked at the reflection of his brother. "Don't you remember Veronica Hartmann, Owen? We used to play with her all the time when we came here."

"No," Owen said and shook his head.

Ronnie laughed heartily. "He's so cute," she said. Oliver looked into the rearview mirror again and noticed Owen was smiling in satisfaction at the compliment.

He turned to Ronnie, his eyebrow arched. "You can't be serious. All that eyeliner must have blinded you," he said jokingly as he drove off.

She smirked. "No, it's the hair, actually. The dye sipped into my brain and cooked it from the inside. It made me become such a lunatic, you have no idea. Sometimes, I even hear voices in my head."

"Eww," Owen called, but then the three of them started to laugh.

"You _are_ a lunatic," Oliver made another sarcastic remark. He looked in the mirror again, watching his brother. "Hey, Owen, we're making a small detour, okay?"

"Whatever," Owen said and turned back to his comic book.

As Oliver drove to the direction of the Hartmanns' Lake House, Ronnie said, "So... Is Lilly your girlfriend?"

Oliver shifted his gaze from the road to her, then back to the road. "No."

"But you wish she was."

"I really rather not talk about it with the audience we have here," he whispered and motioned with his head towards the backseat. Luckily, Owen did not make a comment this time.

"Okay," Ronnie said. He hoped she didn't take offense of that. The truth was that if his brother wasn't in the car with them, he would have told her.

"I'm sorry," Oliver apologized, hoping he didn't sound too rude to her.

"That's okay, Oliver, I understand," she assured him. "Besides, you don't have to tell me anything."

He nodded, thankful she really did understand. The rest of the ride passed quickly. They chatted about their life. He asked whether she had a boyfriend and she told him she didn't. She asked about his life and he told her about his hobbies and friends.

A few minutes later, they had parked outside her Lake House. Oliver couldn't help but feel nervous being back here. After the events of last night, he was pretty sure he would never get back, but here he was.

He helped her bringing her bags inside. Owen asked to stay in the car to finish his comic book, so Oliver promised him he wouldn't take too long.

They walked inside the house and crossed their way to the kitchen. The place was a total chaos and looked like a dump. The coffee table in the living room was still broken into pieces. Red plastic cups were thrown all around the floor, couch and furniture. Again, flashbacks from last night filled his mind, but he shook his head to get rid of them. Ronnie said something as they entered the kitchen.

"Sorry, what?" he asked as he put her plastic bags on the marble counter.

"I asked if you want anything to drink?"

"Uh, no, thanks."

"So I guess I'll show you my DVD collection, then. Follow me."

He nodded. "Thanks."

She walked past him and out of the kitchen and he followed. He expected her to lead him back to the living room, but she proceeded and went up the stairs.

He followed her into what looked like a game room. He never had been in it before. A large air hockey table stood in the middle of the room and a small basketball hoop was poised on one wall, while the one across it held a darts target. In the nearest corner to the door was a large black leather couch and next to it was guitar stand that held an acoustic guitar.

On the further end of the room, right in front of the door and facing the couch, was a wall-to-wall cupboard. It looked like it was made from full wood, suitable for a house like this. In the middle of it, was a large screen TV hidden behind glass doors. Ronnie walked over to the cupboard and opened one of the wooden doors beside of the TV. Oliver walked over when he saw six full shelves stacked with DVDs.

"It's not much," Ronnie said modestly. "I have three times as many at home."

"Are you kidding? It's like you have your own cinema here!" Oliver said, completely amazed by her 'minor' collection. He began to scan the titles. Some of the movies were new, some were older. There were so many that he never even heard about before.

"What genre were you thinking about?" she asked. "I've got everything. How about a horror?"

"Noooo," Oliver said quickly, remembering Lilly's warning.

"An adventure?"

He shook his head, still looking at the variety of movies. There were just so many, it was a tough decision.

"Science fiction?"

"Can't stand it," he said, shaking his head again. "Maybe action or comedy. Animation would be great, too."

"Comedy, huh? How about a romantic comedy?"

He wrinkled his nose. "Don't like them so much."

"I thought you were picking a movie for a girl," she said with a wink. He sighed and nodded. She grinned and began to look for something certain, her finger moving from side to side as she searched. "Oh, there it is. Perfect!"

She pulled out a box and handed it to Oliver. He looked at the cover. The actors were familiar, but he never seen it.

"_Three to Tango_," he read. He flipped the box over and read the summary. Yes, it was a chick flick. Lilly loved those. He was comforted by the fact that it was also a comedy and that Matthew Perry was starring in it. "Okay, I'll take it."

"Do you want anything else? You know, just in case?"

"No, I think this one will be enough. Thank you."

"You're welcome. That'd be 12.99."

He feigned being hurt. "Wow, you're expensive!"

"Okay, okay," she rolled her eyes. "I'll give you the friends discount. 12 dollars sound better?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "How about I'll just give you a thank-you hug instead?"

She pretended to be thinking about it, tapping her finger on her chin. "Oh, alright, I guess it will do."

He chuckled and they hugged, this time Oliver put his arms around her tiny frame. They broke apart and Oliver looked down at her. "Thank you for being a friend, and also the exact opposite from your brother."

"Thank _you_ for bringing me home." She walked over to the leather couch and flung herself down on it. "I know the house is not that welcoming now, but would you like to stay?"

Oliver was looking around the room. He was too distracted to answer her question by the so many cool things in it that he wished he owned. He walked slowly over to her, his eyes examining the room again. His eyes settled on the guitar near the couch. He reached out and began to play with the strings. Soft music began to fill the room, creating some sort of a rhythm. "Logans?" he asked.

Ronnie nodded. She probably noticed the way he touched the guitar, noting how it transfixed him. "You play?" she asked.

He looked up and saw her watching him with curiosity. "Yeah, a little. A friend of mine is into music, so she taught me."

She chuckled. "Wow. Another girl? You know what they say about guys who befriend only girls, right?"

He eyes narrowed as he caught on her words and shot her a playful look. "Yeah, but it doesn't apply to me, because I'm in love with one of them."

She nodded slowly, her mouth forming a small 'o' shape, but it quickly disappeared. She pushed herself off the couch and jumped to her feet. "Right. Too bad you're so smitten. All the good ones are either taken or already like someone," she said with a sigh and Oliver wasn't sure whether she was kidding or not. She couldn't have a crush on him, right? "Come on," she said and she grabbed his hands and led him out of the room and down the stairs. "Your brother is waiting for you in the car and so probably is everyone else back home, so you should go before your parents will send a search party."

They reached the ground floor and Oliver caught sight of the mess again. He began to feel bad for her that she needed to clean this whole place by herself. "Are you sure you're going to be fine handling all of this alone? It seems so much. I could go drop Owen off and come back to help you."

"Thank you, but you've done enough for me today," she said as she walked him to the door. "Besides, you can't ditch Lilly. And it's not my first time cleaning. I'm not the OC girl you think I am. I'm not as spoiled as my brother. I actually like to clean and I clean faster when I'm alone."

She opened the door for him and he stepped out. Oliver turned to her and smiled. He was glad to hear she will be fine. For a minute there, he was beginning to worry. "Okay. Thank you for the DVD. Oh, you said you were leaving tonight. How should I return it to you?"

She waved him off like it was no important. "Keep it. I've got so many and I never watch them."

"Thanks," he said and waved her goodbye and turned to the car.

"Oh, and Oliver," Ronnie called and he turned back. "About this Lilly girl... If she can't see that there's this perfect guy right in front of her, then she must be blind. Bye," she said, added a wink and walked back into the house before closing the door after her. Oliver was left standing there with a slight smile, a warm feeling in his gut and a lot to think about what to say to Lilly when he gets back home.

–––

When Oliver was back, he found Lilly sitting outside on one of the benches on the porch. He unloaded all the grocery bags from the car and put them in the kitchen, before he went to join her.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Your mum gave me some aspirin."

"Good."

She sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm never drinking alcohol again," she whispered.

Oliver reached out and rubbed his hand on her knee comfortingly. "I tried to warn you..." he said softly, not meaning to sound like he was rebuking her with an 'I told you so'. They turned quiet. The silence made Oliver think again about everything he wanted to say to her. He noted they were finally alone, their parents and his brother were all thankfully inside the cabin and he guessed he had a few minutes with her before they'll get interrupted again. "Listen, Lilly... about last night..." he began, but she raised her head high and looked at him with fearful eyes.

"No, Oliver, please don't," she begged. "I really don't want to talk about it."

He gulped hard, summoning the courage to not give up just yet. She promised him they will talk when he gets back from the store and now was the time for that. "No, I think we have to."

She shook her head. "I know I messed up, you don't have to tell me that. I wasn't really thinking... I... It was an impulse. I didn't mean it and I'm truly sorry."

She looked at him, her eyes wide and reflecting a sincere apology. Oliver looked down at his lap in disappointment. She was regretting it, the kiss. He would never get to kiss her again. She just said it, loud and clear. She was drunk when she did it and she didn't mean it.

"I..." he said, not sure how to reply. "I honestly thought –"

"I mean, I knew there was alcohol in that cup Logan gave me and I still drank it because I thought it will help me loosen up and have fun, which didn't happen," she suddenly said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Can you believe that I don't even remember how we got home last night? It's all blurry images in my mind and I can't make out the puzzle. I'm not sure I even want to. The last thing I remember was sitting with you in the car on the ride back and you were yelling. I can't even remember what you said. Everything that happened after that is gone."

Oliver looked at her, astounded. He replayed her words again in his mind, paying close attention to what she had just said. Slowly he came to realize what she meant before. It's not that she regretted the kiss, it's just she didn't remember it at all. He guessed that what she said before about being sorry was not for kissing him, but for getting drunk.

"Please, Oliver. Say you forgive me," she went on. Oliver tried to listen, but his brain was feeling fuzzy. "I know I should've listened to you. I'm so sorry. You're my best friend and it's important to me to know you're not thinking that low of me."

He shook his head. "That's okay, Lilly. I'm not mad. Everybody makes mistakes." He smiled at her, reassuring her he was meaning it. "And I could never think that about you."

His eyes began to sting. He shut them tight and fought them from watering. He couldn't believe she didn't remember it. She was the one who made the first move, after all. And now... it's like it didn't even happened, just a figment of his imagination.

"Is everything okay?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, we're cool," he answered, rubbing his eyes, hoping she didn't know the real reason why.

"I meant with you," she corrected, her voice full of concern.

"Yeah," he said brightly and looked up at her. He was sure his eyes were still somewhat red. He didn't care. "Just tired. Mum woke me up early and I didn't get much sleep."

"You should go and rest, then."

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that."

He left her there and went inside and up to his room to wallow in his own self pity. How could he be so stupid? Lilly would never like him that way. She would never even think about kissing him when she was sober. Even when he knew the kiss – if he could even call it that. It was a mere peck, maybe not even that – was an accident, a cause of her not being lucid, he somehow wished it never happened. It made him hope for something that wasn't real, something that would never happen, not in a million years. He knew from now on, not to let his hopes up. At least, not until he was one hundred percent completely sure she felt the same way.

–––

The three parents were invited to a poker night. Oliver had the time to get his feelings under control, but he was still thankful he was being left alone with Lilly. Of course he was left to babysit his brother, but Owen had fallen asleep already, so it was just the two of them.

"Alright, we've got popcorn, Cheetos, nachos annnnd chips!" Oliver said animatedly as he held with difficulty four bowls full of snacks and walked carefully from the kitchen and into the living room. Lilly wasn't paying him any attention. She was watching a show on MTV.

"Our drinks specials today are Coke and water. And I recommend the Coke because I tasted the water and its tasteless and also I bought the Coke myself just this morning," he said, somehow making an Elvis imitation that didn't have to do with anything he just said, but he still found it funny, so he laughed.

He noticed Lilly had not heard even a single word he said. She was too immersed with the TV.

"Come on, Lilly, turn it off," he said, pointing at the TV.

She was chewing on her thumbnail. "In a minute," she said distractedly.

"Lilly, it's nine o'clock. In one minute, it'd be 9:01. We never start movie night late. We have to stick to schedule, or else, we're _doomed_," he said the last word in a scary voice. She turned to look at him as though he'd gone mad, her eyebrow rose in confusion. He simply shrugged as he couldn't explain himself. She shook her head while rolling her eyes, ignoring him and turned back to the TV.

"Alright, that's it!" Oliver called, annoyed. He reached for the remote and switched to the DVD screen.

Lilly gasped in disbelief. "Oliver!" she yelled. "I was watching that!"

"Lilly, I don't think you get that it's movie night."

She jumped to her feet and strode over to him, attempting to grab the remote from his hands. "Give me that!"

He laughed, taking advantage that he was taller than her, so he stretched out his arms over his head and held the remote high in the air, where she couldn't reach it. She tried to jump, but didn't even come close. "Come and get it," he teased.

"Oliver, that's not funny! I was here first!" she argued and kicked his sheen.

He yelped and crouched forward to rub the sore spot, and dropped the remote on the floor in the process. She let out a victory laugh and grabbed the remote from the floor, but before she had time to escape, he grabbed her tightly by the ankle and pulled. She fell down with a shriek of 'Eeep!'; her top portion of her body landed on the couch, while her legs were on the floor. Oliver pulled her legs to him, not giving up yet. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he held her tight, now with both hands. She managed to turn over on her back, howling with laughter in the process, and kicked him hard in the chest in an attempt of getting him off her. Oliver flew back, letting out an 'oouf' sound as all the air escaped his lungs. He landed on his back with a loud _thud_ and lay motionless for a moment. For a moment, he had a quick vision of Miley's pink makeup case flying right at his head and knocking him down. He couldn't believe it happened to him twice in one week.

He heard Lilly scramble to her feet and a second later she appeared, blocking the view of the ceiling.

"Oh my God!" she gasped as she kneeled over him. Oliver quickly noted she was shaking slightly. Her hands were on either side of his head, her hair was a golden curtain around his face. Her blue eyes were filled with horror and concern. "Oh my God. Oliver, are you okay?" she asked.

He let out a groan as he reached for the pain in his chest where she kicked him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kick you so hard. I swear, Oliv –"

He shut his eyes tight and took in a deep breath. He coughed, as his lungs were still contracting with lack of air. "Lilly, shut up. You're rambling," he whispered and opened his eyes again, only to see her with shocked expression and her lips slightly puckered. It didn't happen very often that she was asked to shut up, but when it did, Oliver knew Lilly didn't know how exactly to react after that and for how long she should be quiet. But as he expected, she merely huffed in annoyance.

He quickly caught his breath back. The pain in his chest had faded away. He turned his head slightly and saw the remote control was thrown aside on the floor. He came up with a plan and tried his best to hide his smirk. Without any warning, he grabbed her again and turned them both in a swift movement, so that he was now on top, straddling her. Her face was full of bewilderment and her chest was rising and falling, causing her breath to suddenly come out in short puffs of hot air, and it tickled his neck. Oliver rather enjoyed this position. He had a clear view through her smooth white tank top of her cleavage. Another series of memories flashed before his eyes: her playful time at the meadow yesterday, the dream he had last night...

Forcing all the dirty thoughts out of his head and focusing on the mission in action, he gave the remote a sideways glance. He noticed Lilly's eyes followed his and he knew she knew what he was exactly thinking about.

They both lurched for the remote, but only one managed to grab hold of it.

Oliver held the remote high, laughing in victory, the same way Lilly did a moment before.

"Cheater!" Lilly half screamed, half laughed. She was still pressed down to the floor by his heavy body. Her hands were now free, though, and they flew above her head. Suddenly, she swung a soft blue velvet pillow at his head. Oliver's head flew to his right shoulder as the pillow made an impact with his face.

"Oh, you want to play it dirty, huh?" Oliver asked. He grabbed the pillow from her hands and threw it aside. He noticed her tank top had slightly risen from her hips with all the wriggling and he couldn't help but pass the opportunity. His hands came in contact with the side of her exposed belly and began to tickle her sensitive skin. He knew how ticklish she was.

She laughed so loud her head flew back. "No! O-li-ver!" she shrieked between howls of laughter, moving around and trying to escape, but she couldn't go anywhere. "Hahahaha! St-o-o-o-p!"

Oliver stopped for a minute, letting her catch her breath again. She looked up at him, gasping. It was the sexiest thing Oliver had ever seen. "Give up?"

"Yes, please. Before I'm gonna pee," she begged. "Please, Oliver."

He gave her a mischievous smirk. "Ooh, I like how you say my name like that," he said playfully.

An awkward silence fell between them after he said that and they both exchanged a look. He immediately regretted it, but he couldn't take it back now.

A movement from the bottom of the stairs caught his eye and he looked up, only to find his brother standing there in his pajamas and looking horrified at the both of them.

"What. The. Heck. Are. You. Two. Doing?" Owen slowly asked.

Lilly turned her head back in surprise and saw him too. She quickly regained her senses and pushed Oliver off her, this time without any difficulty as Oliver himself released her. "Nothing. Get off me, freak," Lilly shot at Oliver as she tried to stand up. She bent down, grabbed the remote control from the floor and walked back to the TV set. She put the DVD disk in the player and went to sit back on the couch.

Oliver slowly stood up and straightened the wrinkles in his shirt. He looked back at his brother. "What are you doing up?"

Owen's eyes narrowed at him as he made his way to the kitchen. "I got thirsty." He grabbed a glass from the dish rack and filled it with water from the tap. He drowned it in two large gulps, gasped in satisfaction and went back up the stairs, but not before he shot Oliver another dirty look.

Oliver ignored him and went back to the living room, seeing Lilly had started the movie.

"What kind of a movie is this?" Lilly asked.

Oliver blinked at her, thankful for the quick change of subject. He didn't want things to get weird between them.

"Umm... Comedy."

"Great," she said and she changed her position on the couch to get more comfortable.

Oliver sighed silently and chose to sit on the other couch, deliberately avoiding being close to her. Usually on movie nights, they'd sit side by side, but after what just happened, Oliver felt like it would be better if they sat as far away from each other as possible.

–––

It was about an hour into the movie. Oliver found it rather amusing, but not completely hilarious. Lilly seemed to like some parts. They always loved to throw comments while watching, stating their opinions. Lilly suddenly said something that made Oliver's heart skip a beat.

"Oh, please! This is so unrealistic!" she called at the screen. "Like, seriously? In what world would a sane woman forgive her best friend for lying to her like that?"

Oliver felt slightly offended at her comment and he wasn't sure why. Okay, so he found he could relate to Oscar (and the fact that Matthew Perry's character had the same name as his middle name was quite the irony) and knew Lilly didn't mean him directly, but the fact that she believed that made him think about his own realistic situation. "Well, Oscar didn't mean to lie to Amy. He was forced to."

Lilly turned to look at Oliver with a blazing look in her eyes. Her cheeks turned red with slight fury. "Still, he _lied_ to her, about being gay, nonetheless. That hurts the most."

Oliver's own cheeks turned pink. "No, he lied about being _in love_ with her!" he argued.

"Whatever. A girl would never get over being lied to! And besides, she suddenly finds out he's not gay and that he's been in love with her this all time, and she forgets everything and suddenly falls for him? I just can't see that happening in real life."

Oliver could now feel the panic starting to build in. "But she fell in love with him way before that!"

"No, she didn't!"

Oliver couldn't let it go. He had to say what was on his mind and what was clinging tight to his heart. He took a deep breath and just said it. "So you mean that if I were to confess my secret undying love for you right now, you would just turn me down?"

Lilly stilled. As the movie kept playing in the background, all Oliver could hear was his own heart racing. Their gazes locked in each other's. And there it was again, that awkward silence that he somehow he had managed to cause between them for the second time that night. He gulped nervously, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat, aching as he suddenly felt his throat dry up and close tight, while he waited for her to say something back, hoping that she would say the only thing he had yearned to hear for a long while now.

Then the most unexpected thing happened. A small smile slowly crept upon Lilly's lips, and Oliver was slowly preparing himself to jump and embrace her in his arms. Bit by bit, her smile turned wider. Then her shoulders began to shake and finally, she threw her head back and let out a series of shrieks full of laughter.

Oliver felt as though he was kicked in the chest again, maybe kicked in somewhere way lower than his chest, as well. All the confidence he had built was now turned into false hopes.

As Lilly's chuckles began to die down, Oliver pretended he wasn't fazed by it. He faked a small smile and let out a single chuckle. Deep inside, he didn't know where to bury himself from embarrassment and disappointment.

–––

"What were her exact words?" Miley's tired voice asked. Oliver could hear her yawning in the background.

He asked Lilly to pause the movie for a few minutes, pretending he needed to use the bathroom after drinking and eating too much. He locked himself in the bathroom upstairs and sat on the edge of the tub while he called Miley. He didn't care about the time differences; he just needed to tell her what happened.

He of course, chose to neglect the details about last night. It would be no use for her to know that Lilly got drunk, she kissed him and then didn't remember it.

Oliver sighed into the phone. "That's the thing. They weren't even words. She just laughed. Like a mocking laugh."

Miley let out an angry huff. "But you didn't tell her! Oliver, she must have thought you were joking or speaking hypothetically. You should've been clearer. Now go back there and tell –"

"Forget it, Miley. I'm not telling her, not after that. I just can't take more rejection. I got enough perspective to know what her true feelings are. She doesn't feel the same."

Oliver heard a distinct knock coming from downstairs. A second later, Lilly's voice called, _"Oliver! There's someone at the door!"_

Oliver covered the microphone of his phone with his hand as he shouted back, "Can you get that?"

He put the phone next to his ear again, not really listening to Miley's attempts to convincing him to confess to Lilly with the truth. He already heard it all before. There was not a single thing that would make him change his mind now. He locked his secret in a vault and threw away the key.

_"Oliver! There's someone here for you!"_ Lilly called from downstairs again.

"...and you'd never know what her real reaction is going to be –"

"Yeah, listen, Miley, I have to go. Thanks for the pep talk. I'll talk to you soon. Bye," he said fast and hung up.

He skipped down the stairs and reached the bottom floor and looked around. Lilly was standing at the door, talking to someone. He walked behind her to see who the visitor was, confused on who might be paying him a visit, here, out of all places, and at this time of the night.

He was stunned to see Ronnie standing at the threshold. "Hi," he said in surprise.

Her gaze shifted from Lilly to him. "Hi," she said in return, a hint of shyness in her voice. Lilly turned around and gave him a curious look. Oliver ignored it.

"Wha... what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry," Lilly interrupted before Ronnie could speak again. She extended her hand. "But Oliver is failing lately at introducing me to people. I'm –"

"Lilly," Ronnie completed, grabbing Lilly's hand and softly shaking it. "Yeah, I know. I'm Ronnie. Ronnie Hartmann."

Lilly pulled her hand back as though she had been burned by something really hot. Her face turned paper white in a fraction of a second. "As in... Logan Hartmann?"

Ronnie nodded awkwardly. Oliver wasn't sure if she heard about what Logan did to Lilly last night, but he was hoping there wouldn't be any mentions of it. "I'm his sister."

"Oh," Lilly said quietly. "Nice to meet you." She robotically turned away from the door and went back to sit on the couch, leaving Oliver stand there alone with Ronnie.

"Would you like to come in?" Oliver asked Ronnie, realizing she was still standing at the door and he was being rude not inviting her in.

"Uh, not thanks. I'm just about to leave. I'm actually here to –"

"Wait, let's talk outside," Oliver said suddenly, noticing Lilly wasn't really in the mood to hear Ronnie's voice, now that she knew who she was. "Excuse us," he added to Lilly.

He walked out to the porch with Ronnie, leaving the door half ajar. "There's really no need..." she said, but he gestured for her to sit down at one of the benches, and they both did.

"You didn't have to come and say goodbye," Oliver said.

"I didn't. I came to get my hoodie. I left it in your car."

"Oh," Oliver said stupidly. He turned around and saw his parents rented car was still parked outside. He was thankful they had chosen to ride in Heather's car tonight. "Sure, let me get it for you."

He walked back inside to grab the keys from the kitchen, and then went back outside to unlock the car. Ronnie followed him. He grabbed her hoodie from the front seat and gave it to her. He noticed another car was standing close by, its headlights and engine on. He guessed it was Ronnie's ride back home.

"Thank you," she said kindly.

"Wait a few minutes. We were just about to finish watching the movie. I can give it back to you right now."

She shook her head and smirked. "What part in 'keep it' didn't you understand?"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort.

"I hope you enjoyed it," Ronnie said.

"Yeah, it was okay," Oliver replied nonchalantly.

A short silence fell between them. It was Ronnie who finally spoke first. "Crap... I should go. It's getting really late."

"Right," Oliver said awkwardly. "Thank you again for the movie."

"Sure," she said with a smile. She walked over to her car and opened the back seat door.

Oliver wanted to stay and watch her until she drove off, just to see she was all settled.

She stopped and looked at him. "Did you know I was crushing on you when I was a kid?"

Oliver's eyes widened in surprised. He was too speechless to say anything.

She laughed nervously. "I guess old feelings never die down," she added while looking at the floor. Then she whispered, "She's really lucky. Take care."

With that, she entered the car and shut the door behind her. Oliver watched as the car backed away and drove off to the main road and out of sight.

Still feeling slightly lightheaded by Ronnie's confession, he slowly walked back to the cabin. He couldn't believe how brave she must have been to say that. He wished he had the guts to tell Lilly his feelings loud and clear, with no interruptions or any room for doubt.

The light from inside the cabin was illuminating the porch through the open door. Oliver realized he left it wide open. He walked inside and closed it after him, slowly making his way back to the living room.

He caught Lilly rubbing her eyes and he frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes, of course," Lilly said, plastering on a smile and looking up. Her eyes looked a little red and Oliver wondered if she had been crying. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by asking.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't know she would stop by. She's an old friend. I met her this morning at the store."

"Uh-huh." Lilly nodded. "You don't have to explain, Oliver," she said weakly.

"She's nothing like her brother."

"Yeah, she seems nice."

"She is."

"She's pretty."

Oliver frowned. "I... guess?"

"Do you like her?"

Oliver wasn't sure what she was asking him. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay," Lilly said and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She got up on her feet. "I watched the end of the movie. I hope you don't mind. I'm really tired now, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

She crossed the room in a quick stride and went to her bedroom, closing the door after her.

Oliver watched as the movie credits rolled. He turned the TV off, and tried to replay the last ten minutes in his mind. He never realized what he did wrong. _What the hell just happened here?_

–––

**A/N: **Ooh, that was looonnggg... What would happen next? Review if you want to know and I will post the next chapter as soon as possible. Thanks! I hoped you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

–––

**A/N:** This is the chapter that started this whole story. I am so thrilled to let you read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun writing it. Please review and let me know what you thought of it. It's not that hard, you know... ;)

**Please note this chapter contains hints of mature content.**

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 12:**

It was probably one of the hottest nights of the week, if not of the entire summer and Oliver couldn't fall asleep. The air was stuffy and humid, which made it even worst. He kicked his blanket off to the floor and rolled around in his bed while trying to get comfortable.

He found himself lying awake for a long while, bored and sweaty. Even counting sheep turned out to be a failure.

At last, after what seemed to be an hour of just lying around in bed, he pushed himself up and went downstairs to the kitchen. Maybe a glass of milk would get him sleepy again.

He crossed his way to the kitchen, taking light steps and trying his best not to walk on loose floorboards. He expected to find the room completely dark, but was surprised to see a dimmed illumination. As he walked closer, he saw a dark figure rummaging through the fridge. Its frame was tiny, but not as tiny as his brother's. Oliver smirked mischievously and tiptoed closer to Lilly.

Without a warning he wrapped one hand over her mouth and the other around her hips. At first she was startled and went rigid at the sudden touch, and then she tried to struggle free from his grasp and tried to scream through her closed mouth, but to no avail.

"Shhh! It's me," he whispered, trying to calm her down. She stilled at the sound of his voice. He spun her around, but kept his hand still pressed on her mouth, to make sure she wouldn't scream. He put his finger to his lips, so she would keep quiet, and when she nodded he removed his hand from her mouth. He motioned with his head towards the door to the porch.

Lilly closed the fridge. The coolness that it emitted disappeared at once and the air was much too hot to handle once again. They walked outside in silence and Oliver turned to close the door behind him. When he turned around, she kicked him in the shin.

"Oww!" he yelped and bent to rub the sore spot.

"Idiot! You scared me!" she hissed. "I thought you were a serial killer or something! Who sneaks up to someone in the dark in the middle of the night?"

"Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't want you to scream and wake everyone up."

She shook her head while trying to change the subject. "What are you doing up, anyway?"

He ran a hand through his thick hair. "Too hot. Couldn't sleep."

She sighed. "Yeah, me too."

He looked over to the dark lake. The moon was reflecting over the still water. At this moment, it looked cool and inviting. Oliver gestured with his head towards it. She frowned in return. "No way. I'm not getting in there with you._ Again_."

He pouted. "Oh, come on. It'd be fun. Just a quick soak before I'll melt over here."

She put her hands over her hips and said, "Okay, you know what? The only part of my body that I'm willing to soak is my feet. I don't want to get the lake stench in my hair again."

Oliver suppressed a chuckle. He wondered since when she became one to care about getting her hair wet. They used to go surfing every other day and she never cared about it before.

But it seemed like a good compromise, so he took it. Besides, he realized he will have some more alone-time with her, a thing they seemed to be lack of these past few days.

They walked over to the shore silently. The ground was not like the smooth sand as the beach they had back home, but a rocky surface. Oliver was glad they were both wearing flip-flops; otherwise their walk could have turned to be quite uncomfortable. It turned out he was right. The water was not too cold, but exactly the right cool temperature for this kind of night. The soft waves flowed between their toes and it felt soothing and relaxing.

"This is nice," he commented as they walked slowly, side by side. Oliver fought the urge to hold her hand in his. He was sure it would feel nice, but she might not feel the same and think it would be weird, so he tucked his hands in his shorts' pockets instead.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly.

Her tone of voice made him feel like something was wrong. He raised his head up and looked into her eyes, trying to find something in them to tell him what she was feeling, but she seemed to hide it well.

He sighed in dejection. She noticed it and looked at him with confusion mirrored in her eyes. "What did I do now, Lilly?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together in puzzlement.

"I must have done something to make you hate me, so just tell me what is it, so I can apologize and we can move on."

Her eyes widened at his words. "Oliver... Why would you think –"

"Ever since the party you've been upset with me. You can't even look me in the eyes anymore for more than two seconds straight. You're quiet all the time. You're crying –"

"Stop it!" she suddenly hissed and it caught Oliver off guard. They came to a halt and he watched her carefully. She was shaking her head slightly, muttering under her breath, her gaze fixed at her feet. She was obviously trying to fight an internal battle with her emotions and thoughts. Finally she looked up and held a hard expression on her face. "I'm fine. We're fine. Let it go."

She walked off over to the near deck while Oliver stayed rooted to the ground and watched her go. He let out another sigh, still thinking he should apologize for something, but preferred to stay silent in the meanwhile. She was obviously lying. He knew her for so long that by now he could read her like a book. He knew something was wrong and he couldn't help but feel hurt that she chose not to talk to him about it.

He walked over slowly, kicking off his flip-flops and sitting next to her on the edge on the deck, their legs dangling in the air while only their toes touched the surface of the water.

They sat in awkward silence for a while. Oliver was staring into space, trying to think about anything but what his heart was telling him to do. It was hard considering the fact that object of his affection was sitting so close from him but it felt as if there was a stone wall dividing them. From the corner of his eyes, he could see her gazing into the lake, her features much softer now. The sight of her, her shiny golden hair illuminated by the moonlight, her soft skin, sweaty as it might have been by the warm air, still looked radiant, and it was heavenly. He could feel his heart beating so fast in his chest that he thought it was going to burst out at any second. It was begging him. _Tell her_, it told him. He fought hard to ignore it. _Now is not the right time for that_, he replied, but he wasn't surprised to hear it retort back, _Will the right time ever come?_

He decided to go for it. See what happens and just go on from there. They would take it one step at a time. "Lilly –" he said, but she shushed him.

He watched her as she leaned back and lay flat on the deck; her eyes were now examining the stars. "It's so beautiful here," she whispered. Then her eyes averted to him, a mean glint in them. She looked as if she was tired of him. "Don't ruin this moment, Oliver."

He swallowed and nodded silently. His hand rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. She seemed to notice it. She didn't say anything until he lay back next to her. "When did you get your tattoo?" she asked after a while.

He took several seconds to think of the reply. "About three weeks ago."

She turned her head to look at him. She looked into his eyes and he was proven wrong about what he said before. She could look at him for more than two seconds. "You mean at prom?"

Oliver smirked to himself, remembering prom night and how he first realized he had feelings for Lilly. "After."

"Tell me what it means?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

He shook his head. "Maybe someday I will."

She let out a fake huff and crossed her hands over her chest in mock offense. Oliver found it endearing. He couldn't help but laugh. She scooted closer to him and he gathered her into his arms and pressed her to his side while she rested her head on his chest and they both stared up at the skies.

"Oliver," Lilly suddenly said.

"Hmm?"

She wrapped a hand around his chest and looked into his eyes again. "I could never hate you."

Oliver smiled faintly at her, but he couldn't shake the speech she gave him earlier off his head. Lilly didn't like people lying to her and there was a chance she wouldn't like it when she found out how he felt for her.

He hoped he was wrong, that no matter what happened, she would still remember that their friendship came first; she would remember all the years they spent together, all the good times, and would not resent him for it. But what he most hoped for was that she would feel the same way.

He nodded. "Promise me you will remember you said that."

"Okay," she replied softly. Oliver noticed the sleepy tone in her voice. He stifled a yawn and looked to his left shoulder, only to find Lilly had fallen asleep. He couldn't keep his own eyes open for long, and slowly his lids shut as sleep overtook him too.

–––

Oliver rang the doorbell to Miley's house at six-thirty sharp. They were all meeting in there. He bounced lightly on his feet, while he waited for someone to answer the door. He hid the two plastic boxes behind his back and peeked through the gaps in the blinds. He saw someone approaching and finally, the door was opened by Jackson who was dressed in a fancy tux.

"Hey Oliver," Jackson nodded and stepped back to let him in. Oliver walked into the house and examined Jackson from head to toe.

"Jackson? You're coming too? This is the Junior prom, you know."

Jackson smirked smugly and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know!" he said with a giggle. "My date is a Junior. You know Jackie Foster?"

Oliver smiled knowingly and nodded. "Nice!"

Jackson giggled again. "Yeah, so I'm going to pick her up now and I'll meet you guys there, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Hey, where's Miley and Lilly? Are they done getting ready yet?"

Jackson gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look. "Pffts! Please, Oliver, they're girls. It's going to take them at least fifteen more minutes. Just make yourself at home. Watch something on TV or fix yourself a sandwich. You can go upstairs too if you'd like."

Jackson headed for the door, but stopped when Oliver called him. "Wait, Jackson. Can you at least let them know I'm here? I don't want to barge in on them changing or something."

"MILES! OLIVER'S HERE!" Jackson suddenly yelled out, startling Oliver. Jackson clapped on Oliver's shoulder and rushed to the door. "Here you go, buddy. See you later!" He shut the door behind him and left Oliver all alone.

Oliver looked around the house, trying to keep himself somewhat busy. He tightened his grip around the boxes he held behind his back. It was a surprise for the girls; he bought them corsages since neither of them had dates. He was actually glad the three of them decided to go together. Sure, it wasn't his first choice, nor was it theirs. Miley wanted Jake to take her, but he was filming his show and couldn't make it. No one asked Lilly to go, which he thought was some sort of a mistake, and he wanted to ask Becca or Joannie, but refrained from doing so at the last minute, thinking it would be a bad idea to start dating one of his ex-girlfriends again.

"Oliver?" Miley's voice came from the second floor.

"Yeah, I'm here," he called back up the stairs.

"Good. We'll be down in a second."

A honk of a car from outside interrupted the silence. Oliver frowned and walked over to the door and peeked outside. A white limousine was parked by the entrance to Miley's driveway. "Huh... Miley?" Oliver called out again. "Why is there a limo outside? I thought we were driving there in my car?"

"What are you talking about?" Miley said as she came down the stairs, wearing a long, pink, flowy dress. Her head was tilted to the side as she was trying to lock an earring to her earlobe. "I didn't order a limo –" Then her eyes widened. "Oh my God! Jake!" she squealed and rushed outside. Oliver stepped outside and watched her run down the driveway to the limo. Out of the roof window Jake's blond head appeared, a wide smile on his face and a single red rose in his hand. Miley was still screaming out of joy and entered the limo to give him a kiss.

Oliver smiled. It was nice of Jake to surprise her like that; romantic, even.

"Hey, what's going on?" someone asked. Oliver turned to look to his right, only to see Lilly standing beside him.

To say Oliver was taken aback would be an understatement. He had gone completely speechless at the sight of her. He couldn't even find the right words to describe her. She was beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, breathtaking. He was always used to see her with casual clothes and had never seen her wear a dress like this before. The last time he remembered her wearing _a_ dress was when they were in kindergarten. The dress she wore tonight was completely different from what she used to wear as a kid. It was also long, but unlike Miley's, it was black and tight. She had a sparkly black ribbon tied just underneath her chest. The straps were from the same sparkly fabric and they formed an 'x' shape on her back. Her hair was held up with a silver butterfly clip and few loose curls escaped it and went down her neck. She didn't wear any jewelry. She didn't need them. She looked dazzling on her own.

"Wow," was all Oliver could say.

Confused at his unrelated reply to her question, Lilly looked up at him, but realized he had referred to her. She laughed nervously. "You look nice too," she commented, eyeing his suit. "So... Jake's here," she said, quickly changing the subject.

Oliver was trying to clear his head, but it was fogged up. All he could think about was how she had transformed into this beautiful swan. His heart gave a light jolt and there was a flattering feeling inside his stomach. He didn't know why all of the sudden he was feeling this way, but it felt amazing and he didn't want it to stop.

He realized Lilly had said something. "Um, yeah," he replied stupidly after a moment.

"Lilly! Oliver! Come on!" Jake called from inside the limo and Miley was beckoning with her hand for them to enter.

Lilly closed the door to Miley's house and walked to the limo together with Oliver. He wanted to help her get in; it just felt like the right thing to do. He extended out his hand for her, but forgot it held the corsage box.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Oh," Oliver said. "This is for you. And for Miley," he added quickly and pulled the other corsage from behind his back. "I wanted you to have the ultimate prom experience, so I got these for you. I didn't know what the color of your dresses would be, so I just got both in white, because it suits every other color."

"Oliver, that's so sweet!" Miley gushed.

Oliver handed Jake one box and he tied the corsage onto Miley's hand while Oliver did the same to Lilly.

"Thank you," Lilly said sweetly and leaned up to kiss his cheek before she entered the limo. He went in after her with a blush on his cheeks, and they drove off.

–––

It was around dawn when a movement in Oliver's arms woke him up.

"Shit..." someone muttered. In the back of his mind, Oliver noted it was Lilly, but he wasn't sure what she was doing there. "Shit!" she said again, this time louder, as she pulled away from him and sat up. Then he felt her start to shake him. "Oliver! Wake up!"

He cracked one eye open and found himself outside. At first, he wasn't sure what they were both doing out of bed at this early hour of the morning, but then he slowly remembered.

"Did we stay out here all night?" he asked sleepily while he rubbed his eyes.

"Yes!" Lilly called in panic and she jumped to her feet and tried to pull him up as well. "Get up! We need to head back before they realized we were gone!" Oliver staggered lightly as he stood up, still half asleep. His back went stiff from lying on the wooden deck all night and he moaned in pain.

They both quickly and quietly sneaked back inside the cabin, thankful that everyone was still asleep. Each turned a different direction to their own room. "See you later," Oliver muttered as he shuffled his way up the stairs.

–––

"I hate you," Oliver muttered to Lilly. She laughed lightly and stabbed her chicken breast steak with her fork and cut it into pieces.

"Aww, is Ollie still upset he can't stay?" Lilly replied in a baby voice. She then changed it back to her normal tone. "Suck it up! Go there, stay for fifteen minutes, then say you're bored and want to go back to keep me company."

It was family karaoke night down at the local club and Lilly and Oliver didn't want to go. They both hated karaoke and preferred to stay in and watch TV all night. Lilly got to stay because she still faked having menstrual pains and for the first time in his life, Oliver wished he was a girl, so he could give the same excuse and not go.

"Yeah, I guess..." he said gloomily. He played with the food he had on his plate, not really having the appetite to eat it.

His parents came down the stairs with Owen, all dressed up and ready to go. "Ready, Oliver?"

"Yeah..." he sighed half-heartedly and pushed his chair back as he stood up.

Heather came over to give Lilly a kiss on the cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us, sweetie?" she asked in concern.

Lilly feigned being weak. "No, thanks, Mum. I'm not really up for it."

Heather hugged her quickly. "Aww, my poor girl. Do you want me to stay with you?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, go ahead. I'll be fine. I think I'm just going to take a bath and go to bed early."

"I can stay with her, Mrs. Truscott," Oliver suggested, looking hopeful.

"Nonsense, Oliver," Heather rejected kindly. "You can't miss family karaoke night." Oliver pouted at that. Heather gave Lilly another quick hug. "Eat your dinner, Lilly, so you won't feel so weak."

"Okay, Mum. I'll see you later. Have fun!" Lilly said, trying to sound cheerful and weak at the same time. Oliver had to admit she was quite a good actress.

As everyone headed out of the door, Oliver muttered one last thing to Lilly. "I wonder what your excuse will be when you have real cramps in a few days."

Lilly laughed silently at him. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes, donut."

Oliver rolled his eyes and left.

Lilly finished her dinner and went to wash the dishes in the sink. Guessing it would take Oliver longer than fifteen minutes to get back, she took her time. She finished the dishes and thought she might take that bath now. She would be done by the time Oliver was back and then they could watch TV together.

She went to the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. She began to fill the tub with water as she gathered clean clothes from the closet. The warm water filled the room with thick steam.

She locked the door behind her, stripped off her clothes and stepped in the tub. It wasn't full yet. Lilly thought it would feel amazing if filled it with bathing salts or something so she could have a few minutes to enjoy and relax.

She noticed a shelf with bath products hanging over the tub. She began to search through it and smiled in satisfaction when she found a shower and bubble bath gel. She began to pour it into the water and white foam began to form. Suddenly the cup fell off and disappeared into the water. Lilly cursed as she bent down and blindly began to search for it. Her foot found it and she accidentally stepped on it. She found herself slipping on its cylindrical shape. She flew back with a shriek and landed deep into the water, her leg hit the tub's rim and shooting pains flew up her body. She screamed so loud, her voice echoed in the room. Then she realized: she couldn't move and the water was still running from the faucet and filling the tub rather quickly.

"Oh boy, I'm in trouble..." she whispered to herself.

–––

At first, Oliver couldn't believe this night could get any worst. He sat back in his chair, bored out of his mind with his head thrown back as he listened to people sing really, really badly one after the other. And it got more out of tune with each different singer. He didn't even know why people were cheering the performers and enjoying it. It was hell.

His parents seemed to like it, though. Heather tried to convince them to go up on stage themselves. Nancy tried to ask Oliver to sing something, but he declined, even though he knew he would probably be the best singer there tonight, and he wasn't exaggerating. He knew he wasn't bad; he just didn't like karaoke nights. Furthermore, he never sang in front of anyone before, so it might also be a stage fright.

He looked at his watch, seeing his fifteen minutes were up long ago. He was sure Lilly was wondering where he was. He checked his cell-phone, but he didn't have any missed calls. Still, he needed to get back.

"Mum, I'm leaving," he said as he got up.

"What? But Heather is going up now," she said.

"Tell her I said she killed it. I'm going to keep Lilly some company. She must be bored all alone."

His mother made an unpleased face, but nodded anyway. He made his way out as quickly as possible. The less he would hear the awful singing, the bigger chance he wouldn't go deaf.

He had to walk back, since they only took one car, but he didn't care because it wasn't a long walk; ten minutes at the most. He tried to call Lilly, to tell her he was on his way, but she didn't pick up.

"Huh," he huffed, looking at his phone screen in confusion, as if it could tell him why she wasn't answering. "That's odd. I hope she didn't fall asleep already."

He tried several more times, thinking she might wake up from the ring, but she still didn't answer. A few minutes later, he finally made it back.

The cabin was unusually silent. He thought he would find Lilly asleep on the couch with the TV on, but she wasn't there.

"Yo, Lil-lay," he called, whistling lightly. "Lilly? You're here?" He started looking around, but she wasn't in the kitchen, either. He went to her room, seeing it was empty. A familiar streaming sound came from behind him. He turned to see it was coming from the bathroom. He walked closer, noticing a strange splatter sound that came with each step he took. He looked down, finding he was stepping inside a large paddle of water and that it was flowing from underneath the bathroom door.

"Lilly?" he called in alarm as he pressed his ear against the door.

"Oliver?" she called back with panic evident in her voice. "Oliver, help!"

"Lilly? What's going on?"

She said something, but the flow of the water was too loud to hear her clearly. "What? I can't hear you over the running water, can you turn it off?"

"If I could I would, you donut!" she screamed. Now, _that_ he heard clearly. "I slipped and I think I broke my leg!"

Oliver frowned. He wasn't sure he heard her right. Surely he didn't. "Did you just say you broke your leg?"

"Yes, please, it hurts! You have to help me!" she begged. "The water is pouring out of the tub and it's getting cold."

Oliver wasn't sure what he could do. His first instinct was of course, try to open the door, but unfortunately he found it locked. He took a deep breath and tried to keep it cool. "Lilly, the door is locked. I can't get in. Can you unlock it?"

There was a short silence before she let out a small scream of pain. "No, I can't move and my hand can't reach it. You will have to break down the door, Oliver. Hurry!"

Oliver hesitated. For a moment he considered calling his parents for an alternative solution or get them here to help, but they might not hear their phones and by the time they would be back, something might happen to Lilly. He had to do this on his own. "Okay," he said. He took a few steps back, enough to give him leverage. He ran and launched himself at the hard wooden door a few times until the frame-head finally broke. The door suddenly burst open and hit the wall in a loud bang and Oliver toppled inside on all fours. His jeans soaked in water, but it didn't stop him.

"I'm here," he said soothingly as he rubbed the sore shoulder that hit the door and stood up and rushed over to the tub. He noticed it was closed with the shower curtain. He grabbed it, but before he could pull it open, Lilly called in fear.

"Oliver, wait! Don't look!"

Without even thinking why, his hand flew to cover his eyes. "What? Lilly, how am I supposed to get you out without looking at you?"

She took a second to think about it. "Can't you close your eyes and fumble blindly?" she asked with embarrassment.

"Not unless you want me to slip on the floor and then we both be baring broken legs. Lilly, this is silly; I've seen you naked plenty of times before."

The second he said it, he regretted it. He knew she would give him hard time for it later.

"_What!_ When?" she asks, horrified.

Oliver slowly took his hand off his face and looked at the shower curtain. "Remember when we were four and we used to swim in your pool? You took your clothes off quite a lot back then," he joked, an amused smile suddenly playing on his lips.

She groaned angrily. "This is different!" she objected. "Bring over a towel, will you?"

"It'll get soaked and you'll freeze!" he said but he still turned around to take a fresh, clean towel from the high rack.

"I'm freezing as it is. Get me out first and then I'll change into something warm and dry."

He did as she said. He unfolded the towel and held it in front of him like a drape. He squeezed his eyes shut, but not completely, only so he could still see blurrily; he bent over the tub and opened the shower curtain, squinting through his thick dark lashes, and only seeing a form of a body but not actual parts. He could see her head was thrown back, as she was struggling to keep the water out of her face when it started reaching her chin, and he was glad he came back before she drowned.

He wrapped the towel around her body, feeling the water's temperature was quite cold. She adjusted the towel around her chest securely. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her wet body out of the tub carefully, trying to ease on her right leg, which seemed to be the one who got broken. "Oww! Oww!" she cried.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

He lifted her up into his arms bridal-style and she wrapped her hands around his neck as he hosted her out of the bathroom and carried her to the couch in the living room. He helped her sit and brought a few pillows to keep her leg levitated and straight. It was swollen and had a dark shade of bluish-purple.

He noticed she was occupied keeping the towel secured around her and saw a few tears escape her eyes and get mingled with the shower water on her skin. Every now and then she let out a low moan of pain and he felt sorry for her.

Her hair, body and towel were soaking the couch with water, and she began shuddering uncontrollably.

Oliver, with his own clothes completely drenched, ran back to the bathroom, careful not to slip on the wet floor. He turned off the water and drained the tub. Then he grabbed the clothes she had laid for her and planned to wear along with two extra dry, large towels.

He rushed back to the living room. He started a fire in the hearth and moved over to her, laying her clothes on the coffee table. He unfolded the dry towels and carefully peeled the soaked one off her body and replaced it with a fresh one. He threw the wet one aside and she adjusted the clean one around her body again. His eyes were fixed on hers. He wanted her to see his gaze did not wander to other places. He was not that guy. Other guys would have taken advantage of opportunities like this, but he had more respect for her than that. She closed her eyes after a few seconds, as if afraid to look at him, or see him look at her.

Softly, he patted the other towel to dry her skin and hair. She didn't say anything. He took one look at her bruised leg and sighed. "Lilly, that doesn't look good. We need to take you to a hospital."

She nodded while still shivering. "Ca...call you...rr p...pa...rents," she stuttered.

He nodded and grabbed his phone from his back pocket. He tried to make a call, but the phone made an error sound. Oliver cursed and shut it off. "Damn. I can't get a signal in here. I'll have to run back to the club and get them."

He stood up, but she grabbed his hand tight. "No! Do...n't le...eave m...ee."

He looked down at her. Her eyes were full and begging. She looked scared. "Lills, I have to get someone, you can't stay here like that." He glanced at his watch. "It's still early, it'll take my parents hours until they are back here. They're having too much fun in there."

"Don't leave me," she whispered again.

He sat down next to her. He reached his hand to her face and stroked it lightly. "Okay, I won't, but let me just see if there is something here that could help you."

He left her sitting on the couch, trying to catch the warm of the fire, while he moved around the cabin, searching for something, anything. He finally found a first-aid kit in the bathroom upstairs.

When he returned, he had changed his shirt. He also saw that her skin seemed to be dry again. He began helping her get dressed. Again, he kept his eyes away from her nude body. It turned out to be quite a difficult task since she was in a lot of pain and couldn't move much. It took a while and as awkward as it was, because it wasn't just a shirt and pants, but panties and a bra as well, they both manage it together carefully.

He opened the first-aid kit and examined its contents. "Here are some pain killers, hopefully they will ease your pain," he said and opened a clear orange plastic container and spilled two white pills into her shaking hand.

"Thank you," she whispered. She looked at the pills and then up at him. "I need water to take these," she said.

"Right," he said, feeling dumb for not thinking about it himself. He usually just swallowed pills without any water, but he guessed now that Lilly didn't do the same.

He went to the kitchen and came right back with a glass of water. "You're not allergic to anything, are you?" he asked as he examined the pill box again.

She shook her head and he nodded. She put the pills in her mouth. Her hand was still shaking slightly, so he sat down next to her and helped her hold the glass still while she drank from it. "Thanks," she said again.

"No problem."

He felt her still shivering, even though she was now covered with her clothes; her hair was still dripping wet. "Here, let's warm you up," he said and pulled the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch around her shoulders. He kept his hand around her as well, pulling her into his body slowly and they both adjusted into a more comfortable position.

Sitting both in silent, only the fire crackling in the fireplace, Oliver finally had time to think. He hoped the pills would help her get some rest for a bit, at least until their parents would be back and then they could take her to a hospital. He would have never expected this night to turn out like this. _Poor Lilly_, he thought. _Couldn't catch a break for one day this summer?_

Lilly's breathing deepened and Oliver noticed she fell asleep. He was glad about that. She was probably tired from everything that happened tonight. He ran his hand up and down her forearm softly and decided he could get some rest too.

–––

"Oh my God! Oliver? What happened here?"

Oliver opened his eyes to the sound of his mother's voice. Yes, he would have to admit that the place looked as if a tornado hit it.

Oliver stretched out and saw Lilly was awake as well. He helped her sit up and he supported her from behind. "Lilly slipped in the shower. It looks like she broke her leg."

"Oh, my baby!" Heather rushed over and held Lilly's face in her hands. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts," Lilly muttered. Heather stroked Lilly's forehead soothingly.

"She needs to go the hospital," Oliver said. He cleared his space so she could sit there instead and walked over to his parents.

"Yes, of course," Heather said. She sounded as if she didn't know what to do. "Let's call 911."

"I'm on it," Oliver's mum said, she was already on the phone. She went outside, to get better reception. Oliver heard her explain what happened to the dispatcher and where they are.

"I tried calling you, but I couldn't get a signal," Oliver explained to his dad.

Howard clapped his hand on Oliver's shoulder. "You did good, son."

Nancy came back inside after a few minutes. "The ambulance is going to be here in a few minutes. They said we need to fix her leg to something so it will stay straight," Nancy instructed.

"I'll go look for some wood board or something," said Howard.

"I'll pack your bags, Heather," Nancy said and went into their room. "Owen, can you go sit outside? If you see red lights, come get me." Owen did as he was told. "And Oliver, please clean up in here."

Oliver nodded silently and went to get a mop. He guessed vacation time was over earlier than planned.

His father returned with a flat piece of wood that looked like a floorboard. It was enough to hold Lilly's leg still. He pulled out his shoelaces and tied it to her leg. Lilly whimpered in pain, but her mother calmed her down.

The ambulance arrived about twenty minutes later. It took the paramedics a while to find the cabin. Lilly was checked and then taken into the ambulance. She exchanged one last look with Oliver. She whispered "Thank you" and he waved her goodbye. He wanted to say so much to her and didn't know when he would be able to. He regretted all the opportunities he had to confess his love for her and blew them one by one.

Lilly's mum went with her while Oliver's took the bags she had packed and drove Heather's car after the ambulance to the hospital.

Oliver watched them drive away and wished he could go with them. He wanted to be there for Lilly until she was home safe, but she had her mum with her and she probably wouldn't want him around anyways.

He sighed sadly. _Feel better, my love._

–––

**A/N:** I hope you liked it. Next chapter is full of surprises, so you better review this one if you want to know what happens next (and here's a hint: You WANT to know what happens next ;) Hehehe...). The ending is approaching... :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

–––

**A/N:** Just a cute one, for those who wanted fluff. There are 2 more chapters to go and maybe an epilogue too. Thanks for everyone who read, reviewed and added to their favorites so far. Thanks for my Beta-reader, Sabrina, you helped me a lot :)

Enjoy! :)

**P.S: And now, there's a soundtrack to the story! You can find it on my tumblr page under the username "LittleSinner87".**

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 13:**

The ride home the next morning was long and quiet. Oliver sat in the front seat while his dad was driving and Owen was dozing in the back.

Oliver let out a frustrated sigh as he looked at the screen of his phone. He had called Lilly ten times so far and she didn't return to him once.

He was getting worried now. He hadn't heard anything from her and he wondered if she was doing alright. He tried to convince himself that she must be okay. It was merely a broken leg, so she should be fine. But still, he couldn't help but ask himself why she wasn't returning his calls? What if it was more serious and she needed surgery? And what if something went wrong during surgery and she –

"Oliver," his dad said suddenly, breaking Oliver's train of thoughts.

Oliver, who was now looking out the window, but in reality only staring into space, hummed in response and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He guessed his earlier sigh got his father's attention.

"Is something the matter?" his dad asked and he patted Oliver's shoulder.

"No, I'm fine," he replied simply, not turning to look at him.

He watched the scenes outside as they drove, getting lost in all the green mountains and the blue sky.

"Hey, what's with you?"

Oliver finally turned to his dad to see what he wanted. Maybe he was bored and just wanted to chat, but Oliver honestly didn't feel he was up to talking to him right now. He wished he could talk to Lilly, though. He shrugged indifferently. "Nothing."

His dad nodded knowingly and a small smile played on his lips. Oliver found it irritating. _"What?"_ he retorted.

"Lilly's already back at home, you know." Oliver's eyes grew wide at that. "Mum called me earlier to give me an update on her condition. Her leg is in cast, but other than that she's doing well."

Oliver let out a chuckle, pretending this wasn't why he was so off today. "Pfft... I knew that. It's not like I was worried about her..."

"Oh, alright. I just thought you wanted to know."

Oliver shrugged. "Thanks for telling me, though."

His dad smirked again. "So you weren't just checking your phone to see if she called?"

Oliver frowned. "No, no. I was just checking the time," he lied.

"If you say so."

Oliver ignored him. He made a mental note to try and stay a little more impassive and a little less... well, him. He was thankful to know that Lilly was in fact alright and that he would be able to see her soon. The only thing that still bothered him was that she didn't try to contact him after he tried to reach her many times. Surely, she was just busy with something or maybe resting? She wouldn't avoid him on purpose... would she?

"So what's the deal with you two, anyway?" Another question. Oliver suppressed another sigh. He didn't want to be rude to his father and be short-tempered with him. He chose to just answer him as vaguely as he could and hoped he would get the message and let him be.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you two dating? You seemed rather close these past few days."

"Umm, no, we're just friends."

His dad nodded knowingly again. "You hesitated."

Oliver frowned at the comment. He tried to be patient. He really did, but it looked like his dad _wanted_ him to be annoyed. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It just reminded me of when I was dating your mother and my parents asked me if we were serious. I hesitated before telling them, that 'No', we were just having a good time. Six months later I went down on one knee and proposed to her."

Oliver rolled his eyes and looked back at the passing view out the window. "Yeah, well, I'm not gonna propose to Lilly anytime soon, so don't worry about it."

He couldn't see his dad's face now, but the tone in his voice gave out the playful smirk that was still playing on his lips. "Right. I mean you're only seventeen, so you don't need to think about that stuff. Just don't take _too_ long. After all, your mother and I were in college when I proposed and it took me only six months to do it, but for you it's been, what? Fourteen years?" Oliver felt a bit uncomfortable that his father found his love life amusing and he especially didn't like it when he linked it to Lilly's. It was none of his business anyway.

"Dad!" he barked, turning his head swiftly to the left and glaring at his suddenly-surprised father. "Just stop talking now. _Please_."

And he did, thankfully.

Oliver spent the rest of the ride listening to the songs playing on the radio and taking occasional naps.

About four hours into the drive, they decided to take a break at a rest-stop to fill up gas, go to the bathroom and have lunch.

Oliver checked his phone again. He was disappointed to see that no one called him. He wondered for a minute if Lilly had informed Miley about her accident yet. He guessed that if she had, Miley would have already called to ask for his version of the story, but since she didn't, he guessed he wasn't the only one Lilly hadn't called.

He went into the minimarket with Owen which was located in the gas station. Owen made him carry a basket and instantly filled it up with bags of chips and sugary drinks, not even remotely considering his big brother's diabetes. As Oliver walked down the aisles, searching for snacks he would be able to eat without having to take his insulin shots, he noticed a corner with shelves full of reading materials. Most of them were newspapers or travel books, but as Oliver looked closely, he noticed a specific book that looked rather familiar. Its cover was mostly black and white, but there was a red rose in the front. Snatching it off the shelf, he added it to the basket, a satisfied smile on his lips. He felt proud of himself he even remembered and was sure that Lilly would be thankful for the gesture. As he was ready to go and meet up with his dad, he looked around for Owen. He found him near a shelf full of toys, examining some action figure.

"Owen, we need to go," he said and clapped his hands twice to gain his brother's attention.

As Owen looked up, several toys near Oliver began to move and sing various songs. Oliver jumped in surprise, but quickly recovered. He wrinkled his nose at the colorful flowers in a pot dancing and singing. They must have been trigged by the sound he made. He chuckled. They were so tacky. He was sure Lilly would find them cute. Out of an impulse, he began to check each one. He decided to get her one, just for the joke and also as another 'get-well-soon' gift. He chose the one with the most meaningful song he could find. Then he dragged Owen to the cashier behind the cash register, paid for the items and got into the car.

"What did you get?" their dad asked. He started the engine and they hit the road again. Four more hours to go.

"Greasy snacks that Owen finds tasteful."

Owen hummed in the back, his mouth now full of potato chips. Oliver didn't know how he could still eat after they just had lunch. Normally, he would have acted the same way, but today his stomach felt queasy. Another Lilly thing.

"Chips are made from potatoes, and we learned at school that potatoes are carbs, which are one of the essential nutrients. So, I basically eat healthy."

Oliver's dad frowned and looked at him with confusion. "Is it just me or did that actually make sense?"

Oliver nodded slightly. He was surprised that Owen actually knew that stuff. Wasn't he an Oken after all?

Bored out of his mind, and thinking he had enough sleep for now, Oliver decided he would read the book he bought. Maybe he would like it, who knew? If Lilly was so into it, there must be a reason why.

He wasn't the reading-type of person, but after the first two chapters, the story got really interesting. He actually regretted hating this book so much without even knowing what it was about. Then again, he only hated it because it interfered with his alone-time with Lilly.

Before he knew it, his dad was pulling into their street and he had finished reading a book of 300 pages in four hours. He was surprised and proud at the same time that he had managed that.

It was a little past six o'clock and the sun was beginning to set, giving the sky an orange tint.

Oliver, exhausted from the long ride, was glad to be home, but first of all, he wanted to visit Lilly.

He quickly grabbed a suitcase and carried it into the house, leaving it in the middle of the living room. He ran up to his room, taking two steps at a time, snatched his skateboard from underneath his bed and ran back down the stairs and out of the house.

He skated all the way to Lilly's. Her house was only two blocks away, but he thought this way would be faster. He held the book and the flower toy in his hands. He took some shortcuts, going through back yards and finally, he was there, standing in her driveway.

He took a minute to catch his breath. He kicked the end of his skateboard and it jumped into his hands. Once he found himself able to breathe normally again, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and walked over to the Truscott's front door.

Usually, he just walked right in, but right now, he thought it'd be more polite to ring the doorbell. Maybe it was because of the change of feelings he had for Lilly. Somehow, he thought he should impress her mother by trying to be a gentleman, not Oliver Oken she knew since he was three years old.

He waited for someone to answer. Light footsteps were heard through the door a minute after he rang the doorbell and suddenly Heather Truscott stood in the doorway. She looked tall, blonde, beautiful, but slightly tired. He guessed she hadn't had much sleep since he last saw her.

"Oliver, hello! Didn't expect you to get back so soon," she said in surprise. "Come in, come in."

She made room for him to walk passed her and he entered the familiar house. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah. Just arrived. Is Lilly here?"

Heather nodded. "She's in her room. Poor thing, hasn't been out since we came home. She had a rough night."

"I bet she did. Can I go up and see her?"

"Yes, of course. She has company now, but I'm sure she would love to see you, as well. After all that you did for her and all."

Oliver smiled and nodded, but couldn't ignore what Heather said. Company? Who would visit her? Who would even know she needed visits at all?

"I'll go make you some lemonade," she said. "Go on, I'll bring it up in a minute."

"Thank you," Oliver said as she disappeared into the kitchen. He turned to the staircase, held onto the railings and stopped. He hesitated at first. Not knowing who was up there with Lilly, he didn't want to interrupt. Too bad he didn't ask Lilly's mum who was up there with her. Maybe that person was the reason to keep Lilly from returning his calls?

Well, he came all the way here. He might as well not let it go to waste. Carefully and slowly, he took one step at a time until he reached her bedroom. Her door was slightly open and light streamed through it into the dark hallway. Oliver listened closely. He could hear Lilly talk to someone. A boy. But who was he?

Oliver took a deep breath and summed up the courage to knock on the door. Three light knocks, just like Lilly always did.

"Come in!" Lilly called.

Oliver slowly pushed the door open; afraid of what he might see. He didn't know who he might find in there. After all, Lilly was no stranger to boys. She had many guy friends, but was this person just a friend?

After walking in, Oliver knew that he was and felt relieved. There was Todd, sitting in Lilly's desk chair, while Lilly was sitting on her bed with one leg covered with a thick white cast.

"Hey," Oliver said awkwardly, shifting his eyes back and forth between Lilly and Todd. He still stood at the entrance to her room, the gifts held behind his back.

"Oliver!" Lilly called in joy and he instantly smiled. "Come here! Come here! Come here!" She held her hands out and he dropped his skateboard from his hand before he walked over and gave her a hug. He put the book and toy flower on the bed beside him. "My hero!"

"Aww, Lills, it was nothing, really," he said modestly. They broke apart from the hug a little too quickly than he wished. He wanted to hold her in his arms forever, but right now was not the time, especially not with Todd's presence in the room.

He turned to the blonde guy. "Hey Todd."

"Hey dude!" Todd said, a goofy smile on his face. They bumped fists in hello.

"What... what are you doing here?" Oliver asked and tried to sound friendly rather than rude.

Todd looked confused, but then again he always looked confused. "Haven't seen my dudette Lilly in a while, so I thought I might check up on her. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you in a while, either."

Oliver nodded and Lilly giggled. "Yeah, we went on a vacation. _Together_." Oliver made sure he emphasized the word 'together.' He didn't know why, but he felt a little possessive of Lilly now. Maybe after everything that happened with Logan, his feelings grew stronger. No one else was going to try and get his girl from him again.

Todd nodded dumbly. It didn't seem like he got the meaning behind Oliver's words. Sadly, neither did Lilly. "Anyway... I wanted to go surfing with you guys, so I came over here to ask Lilly if she wanted to join me and her mum said she was sick. Did you know her mum is like insanely hot?"

This time, it was Oliver who laughed. Lilly frowned at the guy talk she was forced to listen to. She cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me, that's my mum you are talking about. And I told you, Todd, I'm not sick, my leg is broken."

"Oh, right," he said and his gaze became unfocused. "But you take medicine."

"It's to ease the pain."

"Oh."

Oliver suppressed another laugh and noticed Lilly was smiling as well.

"So, Oliver, what about you? You wanna go hit the beach with me?" Todd asked.

"Uh, no thank you, Todd. I just had a long ride here, so maybe some other time," Oliver replied.

Todd stood up. "Well, that's too bad." He looked at Lilly's cast. Suddenly, his eyes widened and a smile spread on his lips again. "Yo, can I sign your cast, Lilly?"

Lilly smiled in return. "Sure, Todd. Just be careful."

Todd took a sharpie from Lilly's desk and leaned over to sign with his name. When he finished, they all looked at the final result. To Oliver, it looked like a chicken scratch; he could barely make out the letters. Todd, however, looked proud, as if he was an artist and this was his masterpiece. He got up from the bed and walked over to the door. His surfboard was leaning against Lilly's wall. He grabbed it and turned back to Lilly and Oliver. "Well, gotta go. Feel better, Lilly."

"Thanks, Todd," she said. He waved them goodbye and left the room.

Oliver looked from the door to Lilly. He smiled at her. He was so happy to see she was okay. He had gotten worried when she didn't return his calls.

"I called you," he said. "Like ten times. I was worried something wasn't right or that you didn't want to speak to me."

Lilly looked confused. "What? I didn't have any calls... Wait. I don't even have my phone on me."

At that exact moment, there was a light knock on the door and Heather walked in, holding up a tray with a jug of lemonade and three glasses. "Your friend Todd left before he even had any lemonade," she said. She put down the tray on Lilly's desk.

"Yeah, he had to go," Lilly replied. "Mum, do you have my phone?"

"Yes, I believe it's still in my purse. I'll go get it for you. Oliver, be a dear and pour Lilly a glass, okay?" she said and left the room, making sure she left the door not completely closed.

"You can help yourself, I don't want any," Lilly said, motioning to Oliver to the drink.

"No thanks."

"Well, see, I didn't even know you called. I'm sorry about that. But why would you think I didn't want to talk to you? You saved my life, Oliver. I could have drowned in the bathtub."

Oliver felt himself blush. "Well, you know, after I got you out, I didn't think you would want to speak to me after what I saw. Not that I've seen anything, because I swear I didn't," he added quickly.

Lilly blushed as well. "That's okay, I believe you. Let's just agree not to mention it again, okay?"

Oliver chuckled nervously. "Okay."

Heather returned with Lilly's phone and handed it to her. She left the room as quickly as she came. Lilly checked her phone. "Yes, exactly ten missed calls from you, another one from Todd and a text from Miley." She obviously began to read the message from Miley, because she turned quiet for a few seconds. Oliver noticed her rolling her eyes at the screen and then shut her phone closed. She put it on her bedside table and turned back to Oliver.

He looked at her cast gloomily. It broke his heart to see her like this. "You didn't tell her what happened yet," he said.

"I will later." It went unnoticed to him that she decided to ignore Miley for a change and spend her time with him.

"I'm so sorry, Lilly. All I wanted was for you to have a great time. Instead you came back suffering."

Lilly's hand began to rub his softly. "Oliver, you donut. I did enjoy my time there. Sure, things could have been better, but it was good. You know why?"

Oliver looked up. Her blue eyes were staring at him with intensity. "Why?"

She smiled sweetly. "Because I was with you."

He returned her smile. He couldn't deny this was another intimate moment between them, another chance for him to get closer to her and kiss her. Unfortunately, she broke her gaze and the moment was gone. She turned back to look at her broken leg and sighed. "Too bad, I won't be able to do anything for the rest of the summer. The doctors said I should be fine by the time school starts, and that I will need a little physiotherapy. But now that Todd was here, I realized how much I'm going to miss. No more surfing or skateboarding, or going to the beach. It sucks. It's summer break. I should be able to do those things."

"Well, think about it this way. No going to the beach means fewer chances to see Rico."

Lilly giggled. She was still looking at the cast. Her finger touched Todd's signature lightly. "Ollie," she said softly.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"Will you sign my cast?" she asked. He looked up in surprise and nodded. He took the sharpie and began scribbling onto the hard surface of the plaster.

"What's this?" she suddenly asked. Oliver looked up and saw she was reaching for the book he laid aside. She gasped when she saw it and then laughed. "I can't believe you got this!"

Oliver chuckled in return. "Told you I'd get you another copy. It's actually really good. I read the whole thing on my way back here," he said and finished his signature. He looked at it and frowned. Next to Todd's it looked smaller and he couldn't have that, so he took the sharpie again and began doodling sketches of flowers and smiles and added more signatures and his initials all over her leg.

"Really? Wow. I'd never thought you'd even know how to open a book."

"Ha-ha," he said sarcastically, finishing a 'get-well-soon' indication on her knee.

"Well, don't give out what's happening because I haven't finished yet." He nodded. "Hey, leave some room for the others," she said when she saw what he had done to her cast.

He stuck his tongue between his teeth and ignored her. He turned to the bottom of her foot and began to write distractedly.

"Don't write there! How am I supposed to see it?" Lilly asked.

"Maybe I don't want you to see it?" he challenged back. He looked at the writings he left there and knew that that was it, his work was done. He put the cap of the sharpie back in place and checked the result. Perfect.

"Come on," Lilly whined. "What did you write there?"

"That you're butt ugly," he joked. Lilly pouted, obviously not believing him. She pushed herself up and managed to get up. A pair of crutches stood next to her bed. She carefully got hold of them and maneuvered herself into a standing position. Oliver quickly got up to help her, but it looked like she was handling it pretty well.

She limped over to her closet and looked at the large, full-size mirror-door. Lilly tried to levitate her broken leg up and see the caption Oliver left at the bottom of her foot, but to no avail. It was too small and she was too far to see it. She lost her balance and fell backwards. Oliver luckily was ready and managed to catch her just before she hit the floor. He helped her stand up, regain balance and helped her walk back over to the bed.

"Careful, now," he rebuked as they sat back on it. "Don't do anything silly."

"It's your fault. You're so annoying!" she complained. "What does it say? Tell me."

Oliver put his hands over his hips and watched her fuss. He found it really amusing and adorable. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I'll tell you what it says when the time is right."

She growled. "Argh! Olivvveerrr!"

"Lillyyyyy!" he mimicked in the same, squeaky voice. He laughed at the pout on her face.

She tried making him give in with puppy-face, but he was too smart not to fall for that. "Pwease, Ollie?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him. She looked so cute, he could barely resist her, but he knew he had to stay strong.

He folded his arms over his chest. "You can just give up now. I'm not going to tell you."

"Argh! Fine!" she folded her own arms over her chest, but in her case, it looked childish.

Oliver laughed. "Maybe this would cheer you up?" he said and presented her the singing sunflower in his hands.

Her sulk immediately changed into a grin, her mouth held open in excitement. She forgot in a mere of seconds that she was supposed to be mad at him. _Girls_, Oliver thought. _Give them a present and you own them_.

"Oh, my God! It's so cute!" She reached over and lightly traced her fingers over its smiling face and over the writings upon the flowerpot, where it said 'Get Well Soon.'

Oliver pushed the 'on' button at the bottom. "Clap your hands."

She did. The flower gave a little jerk, but then began to fully dance and sing in a high baby-like voice.

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."_

When it stopped moving, Lilly looked ecstatic. She laughed in joy and yelled in excitement, clapping her hands in applause at the tiny performer held in Oliver's hands, accidently making it sing one more time.

"Oh, I love it! Thank you, Oliver!"

She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her again. Oliver dropped the flower from his hands and it kept dancing over the bed. He wished, this time she would never let go.

Oliver thought about her words, about what he wrote at the bottom of her foot. _LOLA_. He wished he could tell her what it meant. He wished he could tell her everything. He wished he could just come up to her and ask her the only question that occupied his mind for the last few days.

_Do you love me too?_

–––

**A/N:** Shorter than the one before, but I think it's cute, but don't be fooled, next chapter is going to have a twist. And like I said, there are about 2 more chapters until this story ends, so if you want to see it reaching the ending, please review and tell me what you think. Thank you!

**Oh, and don't forget to listen to the soundtrack of the story! You can find it on my tumblr page under the username "LittleSinner87". I would love to hear comments about it too! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

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**A/N:** Did any of you guys enjoy listening to the **soundtrack** of this story? If you did, now you can also watch **THE TRAILER**! Look for the links on my profile page here, on Fanfiction Net. Let me know what you think about them both, okay?

This chapter has a breaking point so don't say I didn't warn you. Enjoy your reading and don't forget to leave me a review ;)

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**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

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**Chapter 14:**

Last week of summer break. Oliver couldn't believe the days went by so fast. It felt as if it was just a week ago that he was in Lake Tahoe.

He reflected on the days that passed, how he spent them or who he spent them with. Lilly. Always Lilly. Every day. And he didn't regret a single moment of spending his entire summer only with her.

In fact, there he was, sprawled on his bed, watching TV with Lilly lying by his side. He had his arm wrapped comfortably around her and she was leaning into his body while they watched his favorite and cheesy soap opera together. Her leg was still in cast, but she had grown quite accustomed to it by now.

"What's he gonna do? What's he gonna do?" Lilly whispered anxiously as she watched Storm chase after Erica in the rain. She was biting her nails while she clutched tightly to Oliver with her other hand.

Oliver smiled down at her, pleased at himself for making her get addicted to this show just like he was. He thought it was cute. At first she pretended to hate it, but when Oliver reminded her he gave _The Frozen Rose_ a chance and liked it, she should give _Times in Wildport_ one too. She did and she hated him for it because she liked it so much.

_"Erica! Erica!"_

_"Storm! Is that you? I thought you died in that volcano eruption!"_

_"I didn't. And it took me ages to get here, to get back to you. You were the only thing I was thinking about. The memory of you kept me strong. That's the only thing that made me go on until I'd see you again. I love you, Erica."_

"Eeep!" Lilly squeaked as Storm grabbed Erica in his arms and pulled her into a searing kiss. A second later, a frown formed on her face as Erica pushed Storm away and turned her head dramatically to the side.

_"No, Storm, I can't!" _Erica exclaimed. _"I thought you were dead. I moved on. I married someone else. I'm pregnant with his baby."_

"What!" both Lilly and Oliver called, utterly shocked at the turn of the story.

"That tramp! He went through hell to get to her!" Oliver complained, outraged.

The episode ended with a close-up on Storm's shocked face. Lilly grabbed the remote, turned the TV off and threw it back on the bed furiously. "Stupid show. They always do that. I don't get it why you made me watch it in the first place."

Oliver sat up and leaned against the headboard. He chuckled. "Aww, you're just afraid to admit you can't stop watching it now."

She slapped his arm playfully and he faked a pained face, pretending it hurt, even when it didn't.

"I hate you!" she said in a low voice.

"Yeah, well, I hate you too," he replied jokingly as he got off the bed.

Oliver realized how quickly they could change. One moment they were holding each other in an intimate way and the next they were best pals again. So no, he didn't tell her how he felt. He never found the right moment or had felt he was ready for it yet, so they remained in the friends-zone, like it always was and probably always would.

"What time is Miley getting here?" he asked, checking his watch. It was now 4:30 PM.

"Umm, I think her plane is landing at around five-ish," Lilly replied. "She said to meet her at her house."

"Great," Oliver said. He smacked his hands on his thighs before he pushed himself up. "Then let's go." He offered his hand to Lillyas he helped her stand up. Lilly carefully maneuvered herself onto her good leg and expertly skipped over to her crutches that she laid on the wall by her side of the bed. She used them to make her way over to Oliver and together they walked out of his room.

"Do you even have the keys to her house?" he asked, swirling the keys of his car around one finger.

"Of course I do. She asked me to water their pla... Uh-oh."

Oliver chuckled at her sudden slip. "You forgot their plants, didn't you?"

They stopped at the top of the stairs. Lilly wrapped her hands around Oliver's shoulder as he held her crutches in his and helped her descend the staircase carefully. Lilly didn't even need to ask for his assistance since they were used to doing it by now.

"I did not!" she denied.

Oliver laughed harder. "Yes, you did. I can see it in your face."

They came downstairs and he helped her stand up on her own again. She grabbed her crutches with an angry huff and pouted. "You don't think they died, do you?" she asked, nervously biting her thumbnail yet again. "Mr. Stewart will kill me."

"Let's just hope that with their house locked up, none of the summer heat got inside and they were kept cool and fresh."

Lilly seemed to be thinking about it a lot. She looked tormented. She was not the one to deal well with death, plants included. "Oh, man, Oliver! Now everything must be wilted and brown!"

He rubbed her shoulder in comfort. "Let's go there and take a look, okay? No need to jump to conclusions before we see if something actually went wrong."

She pouted again. "Okay," she said gloomily.

"And if they did die," Oliver said with a smirk as they walked out the door, "I'll quickly go to the store and buy green spray-paint."

And just for that, he earned a thump on his foot by one of her crutches.

–––

Luckily Oliver was right. Well, half-right, anyway. With the Stewarts' house being locked, the plants remained alive. Not completely green, but still alive. Lilly felt slightly relieved and both she and Oliver began to water every plant the Stewarts had.

"Thank God they don't have fish," he remarked, but quickly whispered an apology when Lilly held one crutch up and added a threatening glare.

By the time they were done and resting on the couch, they heard a car pull upinto the driveway.

"They're here," Oliver noted.

A minute later, Miley walked through the door in her colorful Hannah outfit, but with the blonde wig sticking out of her purse. "Hey y'all!" she called excitedly, extending her hands to the sides in a welcome gesture.

"Miley! Welcome back!" Lilly replied just enthusiastically.

"How's my favorite couple doing?" Miley asked, giving them a wink.

Oliver's eyes widened in horror at that and Lilly merely frowned in confusion. Taking advantage of sitting behind Lilly and having her back turned to him on the couch, he gritted his teeth, stretched his neck high and signaled with his hand across his throat for Miley to cut it out while his other hand made a 'no' wave.

"Who are you talking about?" Lilly asked, puzzled.

Miley finally saw Oliver's gestures and began to choke and mumble incoherently. "Pffts... Uh... Hmm... B–Brangelina!" she finally said, her voice slightly screeching at the lie. It made Oliver cringe. Miley cleared her throat. "Yeah! I haven't heard about those sweethearts all summer. Does anyone know if they had the chance to adopt another kid?"

Oliver let out a long exhale of relief but ignored Miley's murderous stare, which Lilly seemed to miss.

Lilly gave her a strange look, which Oliver couldn't really blame her for. He would have to admit that Miley's act was a little suspicious. "Uh... I have no idea..." Lilly said. "We can turn on _E!_ and see if they have any news about them there." She made an attempt to lean over to the coffee table and grab the remote control of the TV, but she got distracted when Jackson and Robby Ray walked into the room, each carrying too many suitcases than they could handle.

"Hey, Miley," Jackson said as he dropped the luggage he was holding onto the floor into one big messy pile. "Your Hannah Box is still outside and I'm really not going to get it for you."

"That's okay, Jackson. Oliver is helping me with it," Miley said. She had her fake nice voice on for some reason.

"Wait, I am?" Oliver asked in confusion, not quite understanding how he got volunteered to carry someone else's luggage.

"Great, I'm going to the beach," Jackson said, not really caring and he walked through the porch and on to the beach. Robby Ray had mumbled something about going upstairs and fixing his hair because the wind had blown into it on their drive from the airport.

"Of course you do, Oliver," Miley said a little too sweetly. She strode over, grabbed Oliver's hand and dragged him outside with her. Lilly still looked at the both of them with weird looks, not following what was going on. "You need to make up with it for the last time it landed on your..." she said as they walked through the door, and when they were finally outside, out of Lilly's earshot, she completed the sentence with a snap of "brick of a head!" and added a slap to the back of his head to emphasize her words.

"Oww!" Oliver let out a girly scream and rubbed the sore spot. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you didn't tell her!" she hissed.

"What makes you think that?"

"This –" she repeated his wild hand-cutting-throat-motion, only she did it way more dramatically than him, "would be my first guess!"

Oliver gulped nervously and shrugged. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't tell me you're sorry! You lied to me! The last time we spoke you told me you told her and that she was ecstatic. And now I come back and find out she doesn't even have a clue and it doesn't look like you are planning on telling her anytime soon, either."

Oliver sighed. "Okay, okay. I didn't actually had the time –"

"You had an entire week at Lake Tahoe and the rest of the summer here!" she cut him off.

"Would you let me finish?" he snapped. She folded her arms over her chest and waited. He sighed again. "Look, Miley. I tried to tell her. I really did, so many times. It's just that the last time I tried, it didn't go very well. Things just didn't work out. Then the whole 'broken leg' thing happened and before I knew it, the break was over. It just... never happened."

Miley looked at him unimpressed. She unfolded her hands and huffed. "Fine. Like I said, if you aren't going to tell her, then I will. Wait, what 'broken leg' thing?" she asked in puzzlement.

Oliver was surprised she didn't know. "Didn't Lilly tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"See? I'm not the only one who lied and kept things from you! She did too!"

Suddenly Miley grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed her forehead to his while looking straight into his eyes dangerously. "Spill. It. Oken," she said through gritted teeth.

Oliver pointed back to the house, his arm shaking. "Broken. Leg. Crutches. Cast. Lilly," he said in between breaths, actually scared of getting hit again.

"WHAT?" she yelled and dropped her grip on him and ran back inside. Oliver took a large gulp of air and a moment to compose himself. Miley turned around a second before she entered the house and pointed at him. "Get my Hannah Box!" She then disappeared into the house.

Oliver rolled his eyes and went to get the glittery make-up case that attacked him a few weeks ago. He could hear Miley through the open door, calling Lilly "My poor baby!"

As he walked back into the house, he saw Miley sitting next to Lilly on the couch and hugging her tight. Oliver dropped the make-up case next to the rest of Jackson's luggage pile and stood by to watch the two girls. When Miley pulled out of the hug, she patted Lilly's head gently. "What has he done to you?"

Lilly looked scared, as if she feared Miley had gone insane. Truthfully, Oliver was beginning to think so as well and wondered what the hell they let her drink on the plane. "Who?" Lilly asked in a small voice, her eyes looking warily at Miley's patting hand on her casted leg.

"Oliver, that's who," Miley answered and Oliver let out a shriek followed by a gasp, too shocked that she actually said that.

"I didn't do this to her!" he defended.

"Shhh!" Miley hushed and waved him off. He rolled his eyes and walked over to sit in the single armchair that was on Lilly's right.

Lilly gave him an apologizing look before she turned back to Miley and grabbed her hands in hers. "No, Miley, he's telling the truth," she said. She began to tell her the story about her accident, excluding a few details she and Oliver promised not to speak of again. "And Oliver was really sweet. You should have seen him. He helped me so much throughout the summer."

Miley looked amazed at the story, as if she was hearing things she never thought could happen, like seeing Oliver as some sort of a hero. She looked over at Oliver and nodded, just to tell him she was sorry she accused him of hurting Lilly. He simply rolled his eyes in return but gave a small smile to assure her he wasn't offended.

"So when are you getting it off?" Miley asked, looking at the cast again.

Lilly smiled widely. "Actually, my Mum said she would take me to the hospital today."

"That's great, Lilly," Miley said with a smile. "But wait, you can't get it off before Hannah Montana signed it." Miley grabbed a pen from the coffee table and began to sign Lilly's cast.

Right then, Lilly's phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. "Oh, speaking of the devil," she said and in one swift motion, she flipped the lid open and held it to her ear. "Hey, Mum. Wait, what? No! No, Mum, but you said – But you were supposed to take me today! What do you mean 'why does it matter if I wait another day'? I'm dying to get this thing off! It's itchy and heavy and my leg is so hot with it on, I can feel it cooking inside. _Fine!_" She hung up and stared into space angrily. "Well, I guess I spoke too soon. She's still at the country club and can't pick me up, so I will have to go tomorrow."

"I have an idea!" Miley said brightly. "Oliver is going to take you."

"I am?" he asked for the second time in ten minutes.

"You will?" Lilly asked hopefully, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Sure you are," Miley told him with a pointed look.

Lilly looked between them, finally noticing the exchange of glances and unspoken words. "Why are you two acting so weird?" she asked with an arch of an eyebrow.

Miley sighed. "Lilly, before you go there's something you need to know –" she began, but Oliver interfered with, "Come on, Lills, I will take you." He took Lilly's hand in his and tried to help her up from the couch. He shot a glance at Miley and silently asked her to keep her mouth shut.

Lilly wrenched her hand back and stood up, holding her crutches. "Wait. What is it?" Lilly asked Miley.

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Oliver dismissed before Miley could answer. He walked over to Miley with a fake smile on his face, stood behind her and pressed hard on her shoulders while pretending to massage them lightly. Miley winced at his painful squeeze. "She just got back, she's tired and jetlagged and obviously imagining things." He let go of Miley's shoulders and walked over to the door. "Let's go, Lilly. You two can catch up later."

Lilly rolled her eyes. "No, Oliver. Not unless you really want to. I can wait for my mum to take me tomorrow. I mean, she's right. I waited all summer, what's one more day?"

He looked at her and gave her a sincere smile. "I really want to, Lilly. Besides, if it makes you happy, it makes me happy, too."

She smiled in return and walked over to him. They both said goodbye to an annoyed Miley and left.

–––

Lilly had to get a scan before they could take her cast off. The doctors needed to see that her leg had fully healed. Oliver sat patiently in the waiting room. He didn't know how long it was going to take.

He remembered Lilly's words when they were driving to the hospital a few minutes ago. _"I'm glad you're the one taking me. Thank you."_ He smiled at that. He was thrilled that she was thankful for him helping her. He didn't mind Miley offering him to help her. On the contrary, he would've done it any day.

–––

Lilly looked at Oliver through the blinds of the examination room. She sat on the hospital bed and watched him get bored in the waiting room and giggled to herself.

"Alright, Lilly," the doctor said as she walked in with the scan results. She looked at the film on the X-Ray viewer and tapped her chin as she studied it. Finally, she switched offthe viewer and turned to Lilly with a smile. "Everything looks perfect. Are you ready to get this cast off?"

Lilly grinned with excitement. "As ready as ever."

The doctor pulled out a small electric saw. "Don't be afraid. It won't hurt. Just keep still." Lilly nodded and inhaled deeply. She looked over to the window again and watched Oliver. They wouldn't let him in because he wasn't family, so he had to wait outside. She wished he was here with her, holding her hand, but seeing him sitting outside still calmed her. Just the fact thathe was there with her and always would be made her worries disappear, but another kind of fluttering replaced them, butterflies-like.

"You've got fans, I see," the doctor chuckled when she read the notes and signatures people left on the cast. She began to saw through the thick material. Lilly cringed at the screeching sound it made.

"Yeah, most of them are from Oliver."

"Is that him outside?" the doctor asked with a smile and Lilly nodded. "He must be one hell of a loving boyfriend then," the doctor said when she reached the foot area.

Lilly laughed. "Oh no, Oliver's not my boyfriend."

"Oh," the doctor said simply and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just thought he was, judging by the cute inscription he left you here," she said as she saw the cast near the toes.

Lilly frowned, not understanding what she meant. Then she remembered. Oliver had written something at the bottom of her foot and she never managed to find out what. She forgot all about it. "What does it say?" she asked with curiosity.

The doctor finished sawing the cast and carefully separated it from Lilly's leg. Lilly enjoyed the feeling of the cool air in the room meet her skin. She felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her leg and it felt great but also as if she was now missing some part of her. She was thankful for two things: the first was having a female doctor. The second was for wearing long sweat pants. She needed to hide the leg she hadn't been able to shave for over a month.

"Maybe you should read it yourself," the doctor suggested and turned the cast over so Lilly could see the bottom of the foot area herself.

Oliver's words were written there with black marker. Only four words. She expected something different or at least longer, but she never expected to read _those_ words. Lilly blinked at them, unable to fully comprehend what she was reading. Everything became so real and so clear at that very second.

She read it again. Just to make sure she was not imagining.

_LILLY + OLIVER = LOVE ALWAYS_

She noted the first letter of each word andlet out a choked gasp.

L... O... L... A...

_LOLA._

A tear rolled down her cheek and she gulped, having hard time breathing and her heart rate slowed by the second.

–––

Oliver paced back and forth in the waiting room. A small TV hung on the wall and showed a tennis game. He rolled his eyes, thinking 'Who in the world would like to watch a tennis game in a hospital?'

He shook his head, just to clear his mind. He checked his watch and noted the time. Lilly was now being treated for over an hour. He didn't know why it was taking so long, but he hoped that everything was alright. It'd be heartbreaking to see her walk out with her crutches and the cast still on and hear her say the leg did not fully heal yet.

"Oliver?" a girly voice called from behind. He turned around, expecting to see Lilly, but was surprised to see Miley crossing the hall and walking towards him.

"Miley?" he asked, confused, his eyebrows knitted at thesight of her there.

Miley rushed over to him, now dressed in her own clothes rather than Hannah's and looking breathless, as if she had just run a mile. "You're here?" she asked.

"Of course I am, but what are _you_ doing here?"

"I thought you left because Lilly called me to come pick her up," she answered.

Oliver shook his head. It didn't make any sense. "Are you sure? Why would Lilly do that? I'm here, waiting for her to come out."

"I don't know, but she sounded weird on the phone," she said. Then her phone rang, playing her song _True Friend_, which was Lilly's ringtone. She picked up immediately. "Yeah, I'm here. Lilly, what's goin –" but then she removed the phone from her ear and looked at the screen with a frown. Oliver guessed she hung up. "Weird," she muttered.

"I don't get it," Oliver said.

"Me neither." Miley shook her head. "Something's wrong."

"I'll say. Why would she think that I left?"

At that moment, soft footsteps echoed through the hall. "Miley," Lilly's voice called from behind.

Oliver and Miley turned to see her standing on her two feet and keeping a steady posture. They rushed over to her, both having no idea what was going on. "Come on, let's go home," she said.

"Lilly, why did you call Miley? I was here the whole time!" Oliver said.

Lilly still looked at Miley, never taking her eyes off her. "Well?" she asked her, her voice hard.

Oliver frowned. She acted as if she didn't even hear him.

"Uh..." Miley said unsurely, looking between Lilly to Oliver.

"Lilly!" Oliver called firmly, demanding an answer. "Tell me, what's going on?" He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder but she instantly shrugged it off.

"Don't touch me," she hissed and then began to walk towards the exit. Miley and Oliver followed her. Her walk was a little wobbly and slow, but she looked determined to leave and did not wait a second for Miley to lead the way, so she obviously did.

Oliver watched her walk on her own. He wanted to give her a hug for that, but after she pushed him away, he knew she was upset about something and wondered what it was. "Lilly, wait up!"

"Stay away from me!" she called.

At that, Oliver came to a halt, shocked at her words. He didn't linger back for long. Determined to find out what happened, he followed Lilly and Miley.

"What? Lilly, is everything okay?"

It took her a long moment to reply. She kept on walking, her eyes fixed forward, never looking back. Oliver looked at Miley, asking silently if she knew what was happening but Miley shrugged helplessly.

"No, Oliver, everything is _not_ okay!" Lilly snapped.

"What happened? Tell me."

"Just stay away from me!"

"But why? What did I do?" Oliver asked, his helplessness evident in his voice. He had no idea what was going on and it frustrated him. All of his and Lilly's previous fights never came this far. She never pushed him away sounding so harsh, so hurt.

They finally walked out of the hospital and into the wide parking lot and stopped before Miley's car. Lilly then stopped walking and whirled around, her eyes blazing with rage.

"You ruined _everything!_" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Our entire friendship! It's all been a lie!"

Oliver was taken aback. He paled at the sight of her crying face and stood frozen in front of her. "What are you talking about? When did I ever lie to you?"

"I'm talking about this," she said as she reached for her trouser's pocket and pulled out a white object. She threw it at him and he caught it. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Oliver studied the item in his hands, noting it was a chunk of Lilly's cast. And it was not just any chunk, but the bottom of the foot.

He gulped hard. "I – I can explain –"

"'Love always'? Oliver, you _engraved_ it on your _skin_! L-O-L-A, remember? That's what it really means, isn't it?"

Oliver bowed his head, too afraid to look at her when he said it. "Yes..." he said bashfully, his eyes fixed on the ground.

Lilly exhaled loudly. "'Love always'. Not 'Friends Forever', but..._love_?"

"Yes."

She let out some sort of a whimper. "For how long?"

Oliver finally had the guts to look at her again. His eyes felt moist and he couldn't help it. This was not how it was suppose to happen. This was not the way he wanted for her to find out. "A while."

She took a moment, in which she did not say anything. She merely walked from side to side pointlessly. Finally, she stopped and looked his way again, but still not directly into his eyes. "Did you ever plan on telling me?"

He took three large strides until he was standing face to face with her. He held her shoulders so firmly so she wouldn't be able to escape his grasp. And she did try to break free, but did not succeed, so she kept her gaze away from his.

"All summer, Lilly!" he said confidently. "And man, you and Miley call me clueless, but when it came to this, you definitely were way more clueless than I have ever been in my entire life. How could you not notice my brother's teasing comments? He wasn't that subtle about it. Or how could you not notice the dozens of times I tried to kiss you? Don't tell me you didn't feel it, I know you did. I felt it, too."

Lilly shook her hear forcefully. "I... I don't know what to say... What to think..."

Oliver shook her shoulders. It only made her shut her eyes tight. "Lilly, say something. Anything. You don't have to say you love me, just please don't say you hate me."

Lilly looked torn between decisions. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks stained with tears. "But I do hate you, Oliver! I do! You ruined everything! I can't even look at you! I... I can't. I just... can't."

His grip on her shoulders loosened at those painful words and she seized the chance to break free and enter Miley's car. Miley had long ago shut herself inside it, not wanting to meddle in their spat.

Oliver did not follow Lilly this time. He watched her go and sit beside Miley in the passenger side. Miley only had a second to give him a remorseful glance before she drove off from the parking lot, leaving him standing there alone.

No wonder Lilly hated him so much. He hated himself too. He was an idiot, a fool, a complete moron. Why did he have to fall in love with her? Why did he have to write it down, on his neck, on her cast? Why did he have to lose the best thing in his life?

He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his palm. _Why?_

–––

**A/N: **So here it is. The breaking point. What do you think of this chapter? What do you think is going to happen next? Only one more chapter left (oh, and an epilogue, but that one is quite short). Please tell me your opinions. I'm happy to read them. :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

–––

**A/N:** Last chapter, guys (before the epilogue, that is...) This is a long one, so read it through. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I had fun writing it.** Reviews are welcome and very much needed!** Thank you!

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 15:**

Oliver paced around his room restlessly. It's been two days since Lilly found out the truth and things had never been more awful for him. He had called her endlessly, but she never picked up and he had left her countless messages, which she had never replied to. He even went to her house, but she had refused to see him. He knew she was devastated, but so was he. Not being able to talk to her or explain things got him thinking that this was the end of their friendship.

After walking around in circles and finally getting dizzy, he sat down on his bed, but kept his phone pressed to his ear as it kept dialing her number for the umpteenth time. Just when he thought Lilly was going to end the call and all he would hear was a 'busy' sound, like she usually would, her voice-mail answered.

_"Hey, this is Lilly. I can't take your call right now, so leave me a message and I'll call you back,"_ her recorded voice said. Oliver opened his mouth, ready to spill everything he wanted to say to her for the past two days and couldn't, and once again beg her to answer him, but the beep didn't come. Instead, Lilly's voice kept talking in a sweet tone, _"Oh, and if this is Oliver, please go to hell and stop calling. Thank you." Beeeeep_.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut at the stinging recorded message. "Love what you did with your voice-mail, Lills," he said sarcastically. "Guess I do deserve it." He sighed and looked at the framed picture that stood on his bedside table. He picked it up and examined it. It was from last year's summer break. It was of him and Lilly, and Miley had taken it. He and Lilly were at the beach, wearing their surfing clothes and holding their boards by their sides. They both smiled happily at the camera. He missed those times. "I miss you," he added and then hung up, putting the picture back in place.

He couldn't take the fact that things between them were left unsaid. He had to make up with her and couldn't hold it in any longer. He decided to go to her house one more time and this time he wouldn't leave until she'd listen.

He got up, grabbed the car keys and left the house.

Her mum had been instructed not to let him in, but when she answered the door for him again, she stepped back and let him through. It was probably the desperate look that he had on his face that got to her.

Oliver ran up the stairs to the second floor, taking two steps at a time. He knocked on Lilly's door loudly and waited anxiously for her to open it.

When she did, she obviously didn't expect to see him. Her eyes were red and widened at the sight of him standing at her door. She meant to shut it in his face, but he managed to stick his foot in the gap and stopped it before it closed.

"Go away!" she yelled, trying to push the door close and kicking his foot back, but to no avail.

"I will after you hear me out," he said. He squeezed himself in through the narrow space and managed to push the door open and Lilly moved back.

She looked even more upset than the last time he saw her in the hospital's parking lot. She wrapped her arms around herself insecurely and shot daggers with her eyes at him, before she turned her back on him and faced the wall. "I don't want to hear any more lies from you!" she charged angrily.

Oliver put his hands in his pockets, holding back from reaching out to her, and looked at her with remorse. "I'm sorry, Lilly. I really am. I know I acted like a selfish jerk. I shouldn't have kept this from you. You know I would never lie to you. You're my best friend, Lilly!"

She huffed and shook her head, as if she was trying to get everything he said out of her mind. "Friends don't lie to each other. A friend doesn't fall _in love_ with his other friend!"

"You think I wanted this to happen? I didn't, Lilly, it just happened! And I never even wanted to tell you about it. I wanted it to just fade away because I knew it would ruin our friendship, but Miley and Jackson pushed me into telling you, and when they did, the exact opposite thing happened. It was just an infatuation at first, nothing but a crush and I wanted to get over it and move on, but spending so much time with you made me realize that it was more than 'just' a crush."

She sniffed loudly and one hand touched her face, clearly wiping away a new set of tears. Her back was still facing him and he wished he could see her face, but he'd take whatever chance she gave him. At least he knew she listened.

"You won't talk to me, but you talk to Miley. She's no saint either, Lilly. She knew everything. She helped. She made you stay with me so I could tell you the truth. She kept you away from the Europe trip on purpose."

"Don't you dare! No!" she called furiously and finally spun around to face him. She held a blazing look in her eyes, one that he had never seen before. Her cheeks were red and wet and her eyes were puffy. "Don't you dare blame it on Miley! This is your doing! You're the one who kept things from me!"

Oliver's heart stopped for a second, a glint of hope filled it. "And would it change things if I didn't? What would you have done if I told you sooner?" he asked, his voice soft.

She shook her head once again and let out a sob. "I don't know, Oliver."

"Would you still hate me and treat me like you are treating me now? Would you insist we go past this and remain friends? Would you say you feel the same? What?"

She shuffled her way over to her desk and held tight onto it, as if it would keep her from falling. "Get out. _Please_," she begged. She let out another sob and then covered her face with her hands.

Oliver shook his head, refusing to leave. "No, Lilly. You have to understand first. You have no idea the hell I've been through the past couple of days when you didn't talk to me. I thought I was going crazy. I can't lose you. I can't live my life without you in it. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry, but what you are doing right now is hurting me too. I can take the fact that you don't love me back and I promise I will get over it, but please don't shut me out. I know I screwed up, but think about it, Lills, we've been friends for fourteen years. I'd rather still have you in my life as a friend than not have you in it at all."

Oliver watched her intensely, waiting for her to comment, but she didn't say anything. She was still sobbing. "Stop. Lying. To. Me," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Get. _Out!_" Suddenly, she grabbed something from her desk and before he knew it, she threw it at him. He saw the large black object flying his way and he quickly span around so it hit his back and not his face. He bent his back a little and took a few steps back, finding himself standing in her doorway again. The object she threw at him landed by his feet. He looked down and saw it was the book he got for her, _The Frozen Rose_.

"Leave! And take your stupid, bribing presents with you!" she yelled and grabbed a second item and threw it his way again. It, too, landed by his feet. It was the singing flower. It began to jerk around and sing when it hit the floor. Taken aback and out of focus, Oliver looked up and saw Lilly marching over to him. She pushed him back with force until he stood completely in the hallway and her door suddenly slammed in his face with a loud _bang!_ "Go away and leave me alone!" she screamed through the door.

Oliver stood there, frozen, listening through the closed door to loud bangs and crushing sounds, as she obviously began to throw things around her room. Along with that, came the jolly music from the singing flower that was now dancing on the floor, by his feet.

_"...you'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."_

When the flower stopped moving, Oliver bent over and grabbed it and the book and straightened back up. He forced himself to stay strong and keep it together. It was now quiet again and he hoped she calmed down a bit. He moved closer and pressed his forehead against Lilly's door and whispered, "Do you remember that time when we stayed out all night by the lake? Do you remember what you told me? You said you could never hate me. So please don't hate me, Lilly."

He left, but couldn't ignore the new whimpers that came through her door, so strong that they broke his heart.

–––

Oliver went home and shuffled his way back to his room. Not bothering turning on the light, he slumped back on the bed in the dark and stared into the black space. He began replaying the last hour in his mind. That was it, he told her everything. There was nothing left to say. And she heard it all and still rejected him; not only romantically, but platonically, too. That was the end of their friendship. He would never get to speak to her again.

His hands shot to his eyes and he pressed his palms against them, suppressing a sob and forcing himself not to cry. He banged the mattress hard in frustration, making a low _thump_ sound and the springs to bounce in result.

He grabbed his pillow**, **pressed it to his face and let out the loudest scream he could make. "ARRRRGGGHHH!"

A minute later, he removed it and threw it aside. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

He was on the verge of falling asleep when a chime-ring echoed through his room. He shot up and frowned at the familiar sound, but couldn't place it at first. It wasn't a text-tone, it was something else. Then he noticed a blinking green light coming from the other side of the room, and noted his computer was on. He made his way to his desk and moved the mouse, making the screen turn on.

He noticed he left his email account open and saw he just got a new message.

He frowned at the subject title. It read _'Hey handsome ;)'_. At first he thought it was a spam mail, but when he read the sender's address, the username looked rather familiar: _'vr_hrtmnn.'_

Curious, he clicked on it and the message popped open. He laughed as he began to read it.

_'Why, hello there!_

_I found your email address in Logan's contacts list. Hope you still use it. Thought it'd be nice to catch up on things...'_

It took Oliver a few minutes to read the whole thing, but he couldn't be more pleased to receive an email from Ronnie. It'd made him feel slightly better. He decided to reply right away, thinking her timing could not have been more perfect. He needed someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, maybe. He knew he couldn't turn to Miley because she was probably comforting Lilly right now and wouldn't have any opinion because she was neutral. Jackson would be no option, either, he wouldn't understand and only make things worse. And Lilly... well...

It didn't take long for Ronnie to reply back and Oliver was glad that at least he had her as a friend.

Without even planning it, he spent the rest of the night in front of his computer talking to her.

–––

The next day was Monday. In the afternoon, Lilly and Miley went to Malibu's Rehabilitation Center to work on Lilly's physical therapy for her leg. Miley was helping Lilly with her exercises and stretches just as the physiatrist had instructed them to do.

Lilly was lying on a bed and Miley held her leg in her hands. She helped her bend and straighten it a few times.

"What else did he say?" Miley asked as they kept talking about Oliver visiting Lilly the night before, a conversation they started when they were in the car on the way over.

Lilly huffed. "He had to nerve to include you into this. Said I should be mad at you too. Can you believe him? That lying bastard..."

Miley looked away and didn't say a word. Lilly noticed. "Miley?" she asked, confused.

Miley looked at her best friend with a guilty face. "Why _aren't_ you mad at me? You should be."

Lilly slowly sat up and pulled her leg away from Miley's grasp. "Why would I?"

"Because I kept this from you _and_ I lied to you so you'd stay in Lake Tahoe instead of coming to Europe with me," Miley explained and bowed her head in shame. "You _should_ be mad at me. I'm just as guilty."

Lilly took a moment to process Miley's confession, realizing that Oliver told the truth about Miley. After giving it a thought, she shook her head lightly and took Miley's hand in hers. "Miley, I can't be mad at you. You did what you thought was best for me, while all Oliver did was thinking about himself. Besides, that lie was not yours to tell. None of it is your fault."

Miley smiled generously at her, but then she frowned. "But Lilly, Oliver loves you. Isn't that a good thing? To know that there's someone out there that _loves_ you? If it were me, I would be on cloud nine. There's no better feeling in the world than knowing that someone loves you. You shouldn't be mad at him, either."

Lilly refused to listen. "No, it's not, Miley. It's devastating. He was my friend and he ruined everything. Knowing he feels this way breaks my heart. Do you know what it feels like now that I know that every time we held hands or hugged or whenever I said something, he may have thought it had a different meaning? It's... It's weird, Miley. Besides, let's just say hypothetically that we would end up dating; we would break up after a day! I can't trust him anymore. I would always know he lied to me. It would hang over our heads forever. It would never work between us."

Miley's smile returned and she began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Lilly asked with a frown.

"My, my... You've _actually_ given it a thought!" Miley said, astonished.

Lilly pouted. "I did not. I was just –"

Miley chuckled again. "Yes, you did. Lilly, think of it this way: Maybe you aren't mad at him for lying to you? Maybe you're mad at him because you truly feel the same, but just can't admit it?"

Lilly's mouth fell open in shock at her friend's words. She folded her hands over her chest defensively. "I do _not_ like him!"

Miley laughed again. "Yeah, yeah you do."

Lilly simply ignored Miley.

"Come on, Lilly, just admit it," Miley said. "Did you ever feel butterflies when you thought of him? Did you ever care about what he thought of you? Did you ever feel that electric jolt when you were close to him?"

Lilly knew the answers to those questions. Yes, yes and yes. She remembered how hurt she felt when she heard Ronnie confess to him that she liked him, or the fluttery feeling in her gut when she watched him walk around the waiting room in the hospital, the longing for being around him all the time, to hold his hand or just be near him, the breathless feeling she had when they were goofing around and ending up only mere inches apart, the concern that filled her of whatever thought went through his mind when it came to her. Oliver was important to her, she couldn't deny that. He was her best friend, but so was Miley. Then why did it feel like he was one or ten levels ahead of her?

She jumped off the bed and went to put on her shoes, not bothering tying the laces, but just tucking them inside.

"Where are you going?" Miley asked her, confused. "You still have a few more exercises to do."

"I need to go home," Lilly replied. She looked up at her and smiled. "I need to see Oliver. Now."

Miley grinned and grabbed her purse. "I have the keys."

–––

Half an hour later, Lilly walked up to Oliver's house and knocked on the front door. She turned around and waited, quickly considering running away before someone would answer, but Miley, who stayed in the car and watched her, mouthed _'Don't be a chicken!'_

A minute later, she heard the lock of the door click and she took a deep breath and braced herself to hear Oliver's voice.

"Lilly?" someone asked. Lilly recognized the voice which belonged to Oliver's mother. Slightly relieved, she turned around and smiled at her.

"Hey Mrs. Oken. Is Oliver home?"

"Uh, I don't know. I just got back home from work. I haven't had the time to look for him yet. You can go up to his room and see if he's there," Nancy Oken said.

"Thank you," Lilly replied kindly and walked inside. From behind her, Miley honked her car horn twice. Lilly turned around and waved her goodbye. Miley waved back and drove off.

"How is your leg, by the way?" Nancy asked in a sweet tone as Lilly slowly made her way to the staircase.

Lilly gave her a shy smile. "It's all good now, thank you." She took one step at a time, trying to delay her encounter with Oliver as long as possible. When she finally stood before Oliver's door, she took a deep breath and then knocked three times, the same way she always did. She waited for a minute, but Oliver didn't answer. She decided to go in anyways. She turned the handle and slowly pushed the door open.

The room was filled with light streaming from the window, but Oliver wasn't in sight.

Lilly walked in and looked around, searching for clues to his whereabouts. She was too afraid to call or text him. Besides, the things they needed to talk about could only be said face to face.

She noted Oliver's skateboard was still under his bed, so he probably wasn't at the park, and saw that his surfing board was still in place. She didn't know what else she was suppose to look for, so she just gave up and meant to leave, but stopped when a strange chime ringed through the room.

Lilly frowned and turned around, only to see that it came from Oliver's computer.

She looked at it with curiosity and slowly walked over to it. Without even meaning it, her hand brushed against the mouse and it moved. The monitor turned on at once. There was something open on the screen. Lilly sat down in the desk chair and noted that Oliver had logged in into his email account and left it open. Lilly knew he had no real reason to close it in the first place, since he obviously didn't expect people, and especially her, touching his computer.

She scanned his inbox and saw he had just received a new email, or more like a spam mail. Lilly giggled at its subject, thinking Oliver would not need that kind of pills. Well, at least not for the next fifty years or so...

She meant to get up and leave, but something caught her eyes. It was a correspondence he seemed to have had just the night before. It was a set of emails that were all sent by the same person. The latest had the subject title_ 'Re: Re: Re: Re: Hey handsome ;)'_. She noted the sender's address and knew exactly who he had talked to. Noting the time of each email, she realized the conversation had gone on until the late hours of the night.

Lilly knew she should leave, but she couldn't ignore the fact that it bothered her that Oliver talked to Ronnie again. It made her curious and she wondered what they could possibly talk about. The subject line made her feel a little uneasy. She knew it would be wrong and that she should keep out of it, but she couldn't help herself. She clicked on the last email he got from her and it popped open on the screen.

She cautiously looked over her shoulders to see if anyone was coming, but thankfully his mum seemed to be busy downstairs and didn't come up to check up on her. She turned back to the computer screen with a frown on her face and without giving it a second thought, she began to read the message. It wasn't long. There were only a few sentences. It seemed like the full conversation was made in the previous messages, but it was all Lilly needed to read.

_'Great! Then it's a date! Remember, milkshakes and fries are on me! See you tomorrow at Rico's, 5:00 sharp. Don't be late!  
>Xoxo, Ronnie.'<em>

Lilly read the letter again; needing to make sure she got everything right. What did Ronnie mean by 'A date'? And what was she doing in Malibu in the first place? It was an hour drive from where she lived.

Lilly gulped nervously and felt her body begin to shake. She noted the time set in the computer. It was now 6:30. She shot up from her seat and ran out, not bothering telling Nancy goodbye. She ran to the beach as fast as her weak legs could take her, regretting all the while that she didn't tell Miley to wait for her in the car.

–––

"Hey, come on, stop it," Ronnie said lightly when Oliver couldn't stop stirring his milkshake with his straw. It was distracting their conversation, but he couldn't help it that it was a natural habit for him to do when he felt so gloom. "You made it into chocolate milk."

Oliver snorted a laugh. He pushed the tall glass away from him, not interested in it anymore. "I'm sorry. I'm not really in the mood for a milkshake."

Ronnie raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you let me buy it for you in the first place?"

He gave her half a smile, knowing she was joking. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and he found it endearing. "I like your hair better this way," he said. "It's more you." She changed her style once again. She didn't look emo anymore. She dyed her hair back to blond, but kept a few strands in light pink. She didn't wear as much makeup as she did before and kept a natural, clean look. As for her clothes, she was dressed in a red tank top and a pair of baby blue skinny jeans. He was surprised to see her look so normal. When he arrived at Rico's and saw her there, he didn't even recognize her at first (yet again).

She batted her eyelashes and smiled shyly at him. "Thank you," she said in a soft voice. She took a sip off her own milkshake.

"Why the sudden change?"

She rolled her eyes. "First year in high school, you know. Gotta make a good impression."

"Teachers don't care what the students look like."

She laughed lightly. "I couldn't care less about the teachers. I meant boys."

"Oh," Oliver said, feeling stupid. He shook his head to clear his mind. "Well, don't get too excited about high school boys. Most of them are jerks."

She reached out and lightly touched his hand, giving him a cute smile. "I know one who isn't."

Oliver blushed. He quickly pulled his hand away from hers, reaching to grab a fry from the plate between them. He felt a little uncomfortable at her touch, but didn't want to show her that.

"This one is broken and outdated," he muttered and looked away.

"Look, Oliver," Ronnie said and he turned his head to her again. "Lilly is a fool for giving you up, but you shouldn't prevent yourself from having fun just because of one girl."

"You don't understand –"

"What I don't understand," Ronnie said, cutting him off, "is why you gave up so quickly? Did you think about that? If you truly loved her, you would have fought for her."

Oliver bowed his head. "I had enough of fighting," he said weakly. "Besides, why would she want me anyways? What's so special about me? I was nothing more than a friend to her all along."

Ronnie reached out and put her hand on his neck, so he'd looked back up at her. "Listen, Oliver. _You_ are special. You're one of a kind. Hundreds of girls would kill to have you as their boyfriend. You're sweet, caring, funny, good looking..." Oliver blushed harder at her compliments. This was exactly what he needed right now, a push of confidence, someone who told him that he wasn't unworthy, someone who wanted him just the way he was, in more than 'just a friend' way.

He looked up into her eyes, noticing how their blue tint resembled Lilly's. The golden glow of her hair was so familiar. Her perfume scent was sweet and he found himself being drawn to it, anxious to get a closer whiff. His broken heart was beating fast, and his mind was fogged up. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but his head inched closer to hers. Her eyes shut at the exact time his also did.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on you two, spit-swappers," an annoying voice boomed in their ears.

Oliver stopped everything and opened his eyes, blinking a few times until his vision regained focus. He noticed Ronnie before him, trying to cover her red face with her hand in embarrassment.

Still dazed from what nearly happened between them, Oliver turned to look at the short figure that was standing behind the counter. Rico held a megaphone in his hands with unpleased look on his face.

"No one kisses on the counter!" Rico called through the megaphone. He lowered it and now spoke regularly. Oliver rubbed his ears, thinking he had gone deaf. "This is a local business and customers tend to avoid approaching when PDA is shown."

Oliver looked around, seeing every soul in the beach was now watching him and Ronnie. Some were just staring, others were pointing and laughing.

Rico raised his megaphone again. "Now take your smoothies and smoochies somewhere else!"

–––

"Thank you for coming all the way here," Oliver said as he parked in front of the bus station. It was time for Ronnie to head back home.

Ronnie rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly," she said and flashed him a few shopping bags. "I didn't do it for you."

He laughed. "Yeah, well, thanks for finding the time to see me. I really needed that."

She nodded and smiled sweetly. "Sure. Anytime."

They sat quietly in the car for a few moments, neither of them saying anything. Oliver couldn't shake off the feeling of awkwardness between them.

"I'm sorry about the scene on the beach," he said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Instead of giving some sort of a modest reply, telling him it was okay and that she didn't care, Ronnie unbuckled herself and swooped closer to him. Her hands grabbed his face and her lips neared his. This time he was aware of his actions. Before she could kiss him, he turned his head to the other side. "Ronnie. No."

She froze at his words and slowly sat back into her seat.

He thought it'd be best if he didn't look directly at her. He was actually glad he got that wake-up call from Rico. If he hadn't interrupted them, he would have made a huge mistake.

"I'm sorry if I led you on. I didn't mean to," he said. "And if you're feeling like this, then I can't keep being your friend anymore. This is exactly what Lilly is doing to me and I don't want it to happen to you. You're amazing, Ronnie. You're beautiful and smart. And someday you will find some lucky guy that will make you happy."

She nodded. "I'm sorry, too. I came to see you, thinking something would happen for sure. I knew I would be taking advantage of you while you're down and it wasn't right of me to do."

Oliver turned to look at her with hope in his eyes. "Call it even?" He extended his hand for her to shake.

She smiled, grabbed his hand and shook it once. "Sure."

She got out of the car and waved goodbye. He knew this was the last time he was going to see her. He watched her enter the bus station and hoped she would have a safe ride. When she disappeared behind the double doors, he drove off and headed home.

His phone rang halfway through the drive. He answered without even looking at the caller-ID and switched to speaker so he could talk while driving. "Hello?"

"Oliver, you jerk!" Miley's voice yelled through the phone.

Oliver's eyes widened at the insult, not sure what caused Miley to say that. "Miley?" he asked, confused and taken aback.

"Don't you 'Miley' me!" she said in an arrogant tone. "How could you do this to Lilly?"

"Do what to Lilly?" he asked, still unable to follow what she meant.

"I thought you loved her!" she said instead of answering.

"I do love her!"

"Then why were you kissing some other girl at the beach?"

Luckily for Oliver, he just stopped his car at a red light. Otherwise he would have stopped so abruptly and caused the car behind his to crush into him. "_What?_ Who told you that?"

"Lilly! She saw you! She was there!" Miley said. Her voice sounded full of disappointment. "Now she's devastated."

"What...? How...? When...?" he asked, not knowing what to think. His mind went blank. The light turned to green and he had to keep going. He forgot where he was going, so he just kept driving. "What exactly did she see? I didn't kiss anybody. And why would she even care? She turned me down."

"She went to the beach to talk to you about her feelings."

Oliver felt like he needed to stop. Luckily he was already pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. "What feelings?" he asked, still not quite believing he heard her right.

"Oliver, you should talk to her."

"Miley, what are you talking about? I've already talked to Lilly. She made it quite clear she doesn't feel the same way."

"But Oliver –"

"No! You know what, Miley? I'm sick of you shoving your nose into this. The last time you did, I lost my best friend. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to tell her in the first place. _You_ made me do it. You and Jackson. So now, please, stay out of it and let me move on. This hurts too much to think or talk about."

He meant to end the call, but her next sentence made him rethink it. "Wait, Oliver! I think she's in love with you!" Miley called desperately.

He froze.

Time froze.

Silence filled the air.

"Oliver...?" Miley asked quietly, as if she wasn't sure he had hung up or not.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're wrong," he muttered.

"I... I don't think that I am," she said slowly. "She called me earlier. She was crying so hard. I never heard her cry like this before. Not even the other day in the hospital's parking lot. She sounded heartbroken, Oliver. She keeps believing you lied to her, but not about hiding your feelings from her, but for telling her you love her and then a minute later moving on to kissing someone else –"

"I didn't kiss her!" Oliver yelled, desperate to clear it up.

"Even if you didn't," Miley said. "That is what she believes."

Oliver sighed. "It's not true," he said, shaking his head. "I love her. More than anything."

"I think you should talk to her. I wish I could help you, but she won't listen to me. She has to hear it from you. She's still in denial. You need to make her see you really love her."

Oliver leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat and put both of his hands on the steering wheel. How was he supposed to do that? He already told her he loved her, so what more could he do?

His eyes moved around and finally fixed on the rearview mirror. He saw the book and singing flower he had tossed onto the backseat yesterday after he left Lilly's house. An idea popped into his mind, but he couldn't do it alone.

"Miley, I think I know how you can help me," he said as he restarted his car and decided to tell Miley his plan as he headed over to Lilly's house instead of his.

–––

Listening to sad music was probably not a good way of healing a broken heart. Not that she had that, of course. She was NOT in love with him. She couldn't be. He was a jerk; a two-timing, self-centered, lying jerk.

Lilly decided to remove Oliver from her life for good.

She started rummaging through her room, collecting everything that he ever gave her. She threw it all into a pile on top of her bed. There were birthday presents, pictures, shirts she long ago had stolen from him when she stayed over, notes they had passed in class, movie tickets. The list went on.

She didn't know what would happen when school started again. What would they do when they saw each other in the hallway or shared the same class? She didn't know if her hate for him was going to be temporary and they would eventually become friends again, or that she would never speak to him again. All she knew was that she needed a break from him for awhile. She would not cry for him again. Today was the last time she shed tears for him. He wasn't worth it. No guy was worth it.

Lilly looked at the mess that piled up on her bed. She never knew she had so much stuff from him. She thought she would just drop it all inside a shoebox, but there was way too much junk for a shoebox. She would need something bigger than that, so she thought a garbage bag would do. As she meant to leave her room and go get one, her phone made a muffled buzz. She put it on 'vibrate' mode on purpose, not wanting to answer any calls at the moment. But she noticed it was a short buzz, signaling it wasn't a call, but a text.

She walked over to her desk, where she left her phone and picked up to read the message.

_'I'm sorry,'_ it read. She groaned in distaste, seeing it was from _him_.

She meant to delete it and put her phone away, but it vibrated again. She rolled her eyes and opened the new message, meaning to delete it, but couldn't help but read it first.

_'I'm sorry because I did lie to you. I lied when I told you I could get over it, but I can't. Lilly, this is stronger than me.'_

Lilly read that text over and over, not sure what she should do with that information.

Before she could do anything else, there was a third buzz.

_'I know you're home. I'm right outside. Come out so we can talk.'_

Lilly's heart lurched. She wasn't ready to see him, nor did she want to. She didn't like the fact that he was standing outside her house uninvited.

She put her phone back on her desk and turned off the light in her room. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of spying on her.

Lilly left her room and went to get a garbage bag. Her whole house was quiet and dark. She was all alone. When she returned to her room, she saw her phone was glowing, signaling another message. She wanted to ignore him, but she also wanted him gone. She picked up her phone again and meant to text him back, demanding him to leave. His new message popped up once she opened her phone to reply.

_'Lilly, if you won't step out now, I swear I'm gonna make a fool out of myself in front of the whole neighborhood, so you might as well come out and see it.'_

She decided to simply ignore him. Let him make a fool out of himself. That's his problem.

She grabbed the garbage bag and began to throw everything that was on her bed inside.

Her music then changed into a mix of Faith Hill and something else. She looked up, not understanding what happened to her CD player, guessing the CD must have been scratched. She walked over to the music player and turned it off, but the strange music went on. She arched her eyebrow in confusion, not understanding how it was even possible.

She listened carefully to the music, vaguely hearing a guitar playing, and she found the song quite familiar. She turned her head to her bedroom window and realized the music was coming from outside.

Her eyes widened and her hand shot to her mouth in shock. "He wouldn't..." she whispered.

But she was proven wrong.

_"The other night dear, when I lay sleeping..."_ a voice began to softly sing along, _"I dreamed I held you in my arms, but when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken. So I hung my head and I cried."_

She was too afraid to approach her window; too scared of what she might see when she looked down at her front yard. She knew exactly what he was doing. He combined his two gifts to her in one. It happened in _The Frozen Rose_, too, in the scene where Tyler had confessed his love for Rose. He sang her a serenade outside her window.

Without even wanting it, her legs slowly and shakily took her to her window. She was too curious for her own good. A tear rolled down her cheek, but it was not one of hurt, but one of a complete different emotion, a good one for a change.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She watched Oliver standing on her lawn, a guitar in his hand and he was singing to her.

She couldn't help but laugh at the scene. He looked like a ridiculous dork. Since when did he even know how to play a guitar and sing? Guess there were things that she still didn't know about him.

Slowly, she noticed people on the street coming out of their houses and peeking out of their windows to see what was going on. Her face flushed scarlet. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her. He wasn't only embarrassing himself, but her too.

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."_

She moved away from the window, now chocked up with tears in her eyes. They seemed to appear on their own. She didn't want them, but here they were. She didn't want him to see her that way. She pressed her body against her wall and kept listening to him singing. As much as she fought it, a wide smile appeared on her face, a result of the touching gesture. She closed her eyes, just to listen. She thought she could listen to his voice forever. It was better than any CD she owned. As she quickly wiped her tears away, trying to look somewhat presentable, the music stopped in the middle of the song.

–––

Oliver put down the guitar and looked up at Lilly's window, seeing nothing but darkness in her room. He waited for her to come outside, but she didn't come.

Among the crowd that gathered around, Miley pushed her way to him. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"She won't come out," he said quietly, giving her a painful look. A few people around muttered a sad 'Aww...'

"I'm sorry, Oliver," Miley said sympathetically.

He handed her the guitar he borrowed from her. "Thanks for this," he said. He glanced at Lilly's front door one last time, checking if it was still closed. It was. He grimaced in pain, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked off to where he parked his car with his head lowered.

That was life. Sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don't. In his case, he mostly never got what he wanted and thought that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different.

He would learn to live with the rejection. He'd try to move on. It'd be hard at first, but he was strong, he would make it. Maybe she would stay in his heart forever? Maybe he would forget her completely in a few years? All he hoped for was that Lilly would have a happy life, even if she didn't include him in it.

People watched him with remorse. They made way for him as he walked past them and whispered words behind his back. He distinctly heard "poor fellow" and "so romantic" and vaguely, very distantly he heard his name.

And it came again a second later, louder and clearer this time until he was sure he wasn't imagining.

"Oliver!"

Multiple gasps went through the crowd. Oliver raised his head and turned around.

The door to Lilly's house was now open and Lilly was standing there, watching him.

"Lilly?" He watched her with a frown, wondering what she wanted now. Was it to humiliate him further? Was it to yell at him to get out of her life? He wasn't sure.

But then their eyes locked and he didn't care. He knew nothing more.

She started to run to him, her blond hair flying behind her like a veil, a glint in her blue eyes and a huge grin was spread on her face from one ear to another.

He began to walk towards her and when she met him, they stopped and did nothing but stare into each other's eyes.

He didn't smile. He didn't want to draw any conclusions before he was sure what was really happening.

She broke their gaze with a shy laugh. He watched her intently, waiting for her to say something.

She didn't say anything, though. She simply threw herself at him, wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and snuggled into the crook of his shoulder.

Bit by bit, realization came over him and his hands slowly traveled up and enfolded her into a warm hug. He buried his head in her hair, inhaling the sweet smell of her apple shampoo. A content smile finally spread upon his lips as he held her to him. He couldn't believe it, thinking this must be a dream, or more like a nightmare. Soon, he was going to wake up and she would be gone and all he would hold in his arms was his pillow.

But the dream went on and she didn't disappear. He decided to take advantage of the situation and enjoy it while he still could.

"That was..." she whispered.

"Romantic?" he finished for her, chuckling lightly.

She nodded. "Yeah and so..."

"Cliché?" he asked hopefully.

"I was going to say silly, but let's go with your word," she said and they both laughed.

They slowly pulled apart, but not completely, just enough to lock gazes again. It was hard to blink. Oliver believed that if he blinked, the dream would end.

He reached his hand out to her cheek, longing to touch her. A shiny stain underneath her eyes told him she had been crying. His finger slowly wiped away the moistness.

"Happy tears," she explained.

He nodded. "I hope so. I'm sorry I hurt you."

She shook her head. "We'll get through it. I'm already over it."

"I thought I lost you," Oliver said, his eyes fixed on hers. All he could see was her. The rest of the world didn't exist. They were in a separate universe. The people around them faded away and they were all alone.

She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. "You could never lose me."

"I never kissed Ronnie. I don't want her or Joannie or Becca or anyone else. I only want _you_."

She let out a small whimper and for a moment he thought she was crying again. She pulled her head back and he was relieved to see her smiling.

"I only want you too," she whispered. "You made me fall in love with you, Oken."

"Good," he said with a chuckle. "Because I love you, too."

He was too anxious to hold back. So without waiting anymore, he grabbed her face and pulled her to him, his lips crushing onto hers in a passionate kiss, one he had craved for a very long time.

As their lips moved together, the sound of applause burst their bubble and they were forced to break apart and come back to Earth.

They looked shyly at their forgotten audience. Their faces flushed dark red at the sight of the amount of people that had witnessed the most important moment of their lives.

Oliver noticed Miley standing in the background with her hands on her heart and a mixture of a pleased and a proud smile on her face.

Oliver couldn't help but be thankful for his lucky stars. _Guess dreams do come true after all._

–––

**A/N: **Hope you guys liked it. I hope to read your reviews on it. Don't forget there's an epilogue coming up, so this isn't the end yet! If you want to read the epilogue next week, you better review this chapter now, or else I will post it in a month or maybe more. It's already finished, so make the right choice... ;)


	16. Chapter 16 - Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hannah Montana.

–––

**A/N:** This is it! It happened, done, completed. The ending has finally come! I present you with the Epilogue to the story. Sorry this is a bit late, it was supposed to be up a few weeks ago, but I felt like it needed a bit of fixing. I wanted it to be perfect for you all :)

Thank you so much for keeping reading for the past 13 months (Wow, has it really been that long ago since I posted chapter 1?)

Make sure you keep track on my next Loliver stories that are coming up. If you enjoyed this one, you will like them, as well :)

Thanks for all the readers, the reviews, the subscriptions and favorites. Thanks for my Beta, Brina. Thank you, Hannah Montana and Disney, Mitchel and Emily, for creating such a wonderful couple.

_Please note: This chapter is un-beta'd. I will re-upload the beta'd version in a few days. I just wanted you to read it first :)_

–––

**The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken**

–––

**Chapter 16 - Epilogue:**

_10 months later..._

It was a sunny day and the change in the weather was welcome. The last few days were cloudy and chilly, but today the sun decided to come out and it couldn't be more perfect.

As he lay outside on the green grass, his arms behind his neck and his face facing the sky, he closed his eyes and let the warm sun kiss his skin.

He listened to his surroundings. The air buzzed with birds chipper and children's laughter. Somewhere, among the mass of tourists, soft violin music was playing. Foreign language entered his ears. The words slurred out of passersby and were unfamiliar. People came and went. Some stopped to take pictures, others chatted merrily.

He was completely mesmerized by this place. He never been there before and he intended to absorb the full effect the Champ de Mars could give.

He sat up, enough to lean against his elbows and looked up. The view of the great Eiffel Tower revealed before him and he couldn't help but smile. This place was magical, magical enough to cause him to smile just by looking at an architectural structure.

Paris was so beautiful. He never visited any other place that compared to it by its beauty. Now he knew why people called it the City of Love. He could easily see how young couples come here and celebrate their love for each other.

Speaking of which... he didn't come here alone, of course. Paris was only the first stop on Hannah's new Europe tour. This summer Lilly did not pass on coming along with Miley, and neither did he. After all, he couldn't quite leave his girlfriend and let her tour another continent while European guys could hit on her. Did you ever see a European guy? They're gorgeous. Not that he was insecure about his looks or of his and Lilly's relationship, but he would not risk it. Still, after almost a year later, this relationship seemed surreal to him, like it was taken out of someone else's life. Besides, why shouldn't he enjoy it as well when the entire trip was offered for free?

"Hey, Oliver!"

At the sound of his name being called, he turned around and a greater smile appeared on his face. Miley and Lilly were making their way over to him. He waved at them and stood up to greet them.

Lilly jogged over to him and greeted him with a kiss. "Took you long enough," he commented when they broke apart. The sound of Miley's fake retching when they kissed could not be ignored. Oliver took a good look at his girlfriend, noting how beautiful she looked. She had worn a floral summer dress and a red beret. He thought it looked cute on her.

Miley rolled her eyes and nudged Lilly's side. "You can blame this one right here. Acting all 'touristy' like she never has been to Paris before."

Lilly made a fake insulted face. "I _have_ never been to Paris before!" she objected.

"Yeah, well..." Miley folded her hand over her chest and began to stutter. "Who...whose fault is that?"

"Yours," both Lilly and Oliver answered at once. They looked into each other's eyes with pride of sharing the same thought. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed a small kiss to her temple.

Miley squinted. "Oh, that's what I get, huh? No 'Thank you, Miley, for bringing us with you for four weeks in Europe on your private jet,' or something along the lines..." she ended mumbling.

Oliver and Lilly shared an amused look again, but then both shrugged.

"So, Miley, where's Jackson?" Oliver asked, changing the conversation to a lighter subject.

"Oh, we lost him when we passed by a group of girls earlier," she answered with a roll of her eyes. Oliver nodded with a smirk.

"Yeah and we basically have the whole day to ourselves," Lilly said, sounding cheerful. "No need to worry about Roxie, either. We slipped half the contents of the mini bar into her breakfast. Snickers and rum, a great combination!"

Oliver laughed, imagining a drunken Roxie snoring loudly on the couch back in hotel suite.

"Yeah, and Dad will be too busy to try and help her sober up that he will forget all about us," Miley added.

They began to walk down the garden, enjoying the view and taking pictures.

Oliver and Lilly walked hand and hand when a young guy selling roses stopped in front of them and said something in French.

"Huh..." Oliver said unsurely, looking nervously at Miley for help.

"He wants you to buy a flower, doofus," Miley noted the obvious. She turned to the guy and said with an-almost perfect French accent, "Combien pour une fleur?"

"Dix Euros," he answered with a smile.

Oliver's French was quite bad, but he did know that 'dix' meant 'ten'. "Whoa, quite expensive for a rose," he blurted out.

Lilly grabbed his arm. "Ollie, you really don't have to. Let's just go." He looked at her, seeing the mix of concern and anticipation in her eyes. He smiled, pulled out his wallet and handed the guy a red bill of ten Euros. The guy looked pleased with his sell and handed Lilly a beautiful, long stemmed rose and then walked off. Lilly blushed and smiled as she smelled her flower. The pure delight on her face was all that mattered to Oliver.

"Thank you," she said sweetly.

"Anything for you, mon amour," he said with a smile and hugged her.

Oliver couldn't help but notice Miley glancing at them with a glint of jealously in her eyes and he knew she must be missing Jake.

"Ugh," she then called in disgust. "You two are so tacky. I'm beginning to regret I made you become a couple in the first place," she complained. Oliver and Lilly rolled their eyes at her. "Can we go now?"

Oliver clapped his hands together. "Yes. Shall we go up?" he suggested, motioning with his eyes over to the Eiffel Tower.

"Yeah!" Lilly said excitedly.

"Great, we can have lunch there," Miley said.

Lilly then turned hesitant. "I don't know, Miley. Those restaurants must be really expensive."

"Did you forget who you're friends with?" she said. She opened her purse just enough for a blonde wig to peek out of it. "Trust me, even when Hannah keeps insisting to pay for the meal, they never take 'no' for an answer when they offer it to be 'on the house'."

They laughed and then began to walk over to the tower.

"So after we get back from Europe, we're still gonna have two more weeks before we go to college. Any suggestions what we're gonna do then?" Oliver asked.

The three of them got into Stanford. That was the plan, to become inseparable and spent the next four years of college together. "I think we'd be too busy to pack and settle final arrangements," Lilly said.

"Yeah, I agree," Miley added.

Oliver pouted. "But I was thinking of maybe go out camping the weekend before last? And I don't mean like last time. We should do it old-school, you know, like setting up a tent in the middle of a woods, eating s'mores by the fire, listening to wolf howls and bears –"

He was stopped in place and cut off when Lilly gently pressed her hands to his lips. "No," was all she said. She removed her hand and they kept walking, finally reaching the line to the elevators to the tower.

"Why not?"

"Oliver, I think it's a sweet idea, but I also think I've had enough camping for the next decade or so."

"I agree," Miley said again and both she and Lilly chuckled.

After they had a delicious lunch, which of course they did not pay for, like Miley said, Lilly and Oliver decided to go up to the third level of the tower to observe the city. Miley, who took off her Hannah wig before leaving the restaurant, felt she needed to call Jake, so she decided to leave them alone and go down, where she'd have a better signal on her phone.

Oliver and Lilly stood by the railings on the third level and watched Paris spread out before their eyes. It was a magnificent and romantic experience and Oliver was glad he shared it with Lilly.

Lilly ran her fingers over the stem of her rose. Suddenly she widened her eyes and looked as if she just remembered something. "I have something for you, too," she announced unexpectedly.

"Oh?" Oliver asked, now intrigued.

Lilly nodded. "Remember last night, after Miley's concert?"

"Not really. I was so tired. All I wanted was my pillow," Oliver joked and Lilly smirked in return.

"Yeah, so while you were snoring, Miley and I went out. And well... I did something..."

Oliver frowned suddenly. "Lilly, this is the worst way to tell me you cheated on me," he said.

She swatted his arm lightly. "Oh, just shut up and look."

She turned around, gathered her hair into her hand and lifted it up. Oliver noticed something dark on the back of her neck, a writing of sort, it contained five letters that said: _O'MIKE._

"You like it?" she said as she looked at him over her shoulder.

Oliver was slightly surprised. "Wow... Um... I don't know," he said slowly. "It depends on how drunk you were, I guess."

Lilly turned around when she detected the weirdness in his tone of voice. "I wasn't drunk," she said. "I did it for you."

"Then I guess I should remind you that my name is Oliver."

She swatted his arm again, this time it was painful and he yelped. "It's a resemblance to your _LOLA_ tattoo. It's a henna tattoo. My mum will kill me if I got a real one. I thought I'd get it inked for real when I'm older, but seeing your reaction, I guess I shouldn't bother," she said, folding her hands over her chest in offense.

"But you didn't even tell me what it means."

She looked up at him and he realized he was right. She sighed. "It means: _'Oliver: Most Irresistible Kisser Ever.'_"

Oliver's eyebrows rose up at that, pleased to know the true meaning of the letters. "Oh, then in that case I'd have to say that you're damn right on that one," he said. Without giving her anytime to reply, he grabbed her by the waist, pulled her to him and pressed his lips to her firmly and it didn't even take one second for her to kiss him back.

**The end.**


End file.
